A harrowing incident unfolded in the port city of Chittagong on Saturday night when an addicted father allegedly abducted his 20-month-old daughter to sell her to fund his substance abuse. The child was successfully reunited with her mother following a swift operation by the police, triggered by a desperate plea to the national emergency helpline 999.

The ordeal began around 10:30 pm in the West Madarbari area under the jurisdiction of the Sadarghat Police Station. Seema Akter, 26, contacted the national emergency service after her husband, 27-year-old Lokman Hossain Sagar, forcibly dragged their toddler, Fatema Akter, out of their rented residence in the Panir Tanki neighbourhood. According to Seema, her husband’s sole motive was to trade their young daughter for money to buy drugs.

Promptly alerted by the helpline dispatch, officers from Sadarghat Police Station launched a targeted operation to trace the missing child. Within two hours, law enforcement personnel located the toddler in the Yugi Chand Mosque Lane area of West Madarbari.

The investigation revealed that Sagar had approached his maternal cousin with an offer to sell the child. Recognising the gravity of the situation and the child’s imminent danger, the cousin acted tactfully, taking the little girl into his own custody under the guise of helping before police arrived to complete the rescue.

Speaking on the investigation, Mohammad Ekram Ullah, Officer-in-Charge of Sadarghat Police Station, confirmed that the toddler was handed back safely to her mother late Saturday night. Despite the terrifying nature of the event and the explicit allegations raised during her initial call to the emergency services, Seema declined to file formal criminal charges against her husband following her daughter’s safe return.

Substance abuse remains an escalating socio-economic challenge across urban centres in Bangladesh, often driving individuals toward extreme domestic conflict and desperate acts. While national emergency helplines like 999 continue to prove effective in resolving immediate crises, cases involving domestic addiction frequently highlight the complex social pressures that prevent victims from pursuing legal justice against family members.