Yaba couple' captured

Farhana Akhtar alias Papia married a drug dealer when she was just a teenager. She learnt the ins and outs of the illicit business pretty soon and expanded its network, especially by recruiting females.

Also known as Rajkumari in her close circle and narcotics fraternity, she established good connections with many influential people for smooth running of the trade.

Gradually, she became a “drug queen" of the city.

She started to move in personal SUVs and keep firearms for personal safety and owned several houses and apartments in the capital's Mohammadpur and Adabor and Shyamoli Housing Society in Shekhertek.

Her racket was initially based in Geneva Camp of Mohammadpur, but she expanded it to different areas in the capital, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.

On Thursday night, the couple got arrested with 20,000 yaba pills, one gun, five bullets and nine homemade bombs. A special action group from the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of DMP caught them in Lalbagh.

Papia, 25, accused in at least a dozen cases, was arrested on several occasions before this but walked free quite easily. Her husband, 29-year-old Joynal Abedin alias Joy alias Pachu, was wanted in at least 10 cases.

Daughter of Abu Hanif of Aziz Moholla in the capital's Mohammadpur, Papia passed SSC exams from Kisholoy Girls' School and College in the area, said police sources.

She got into a relationship with Pachu while in class-X. Before appearing in the pre-test exams, they got married without the consent of her parents.

Within three months, she came to know that her husband is a drug dealer and joined the business.

According to sources, Pachu first got involved in yaba business in early 2004 when he met a person named Shahid while working in a CD shop in Mohammadpur. As per Shahid's instructions, he used to deliver small packets to different people in exchange of Tk 500.