Following this, the life saving drugs have now become life threatening ones in Chittagong.

A section of unscrupulous traders, in connivance with a section of officials at narcotics control department, are selling the drugs at exorbitant price defying regulations, sources said.

They said as per government regulation any sort of storage, sale or use of morphine and pathedine without prior permission of the narcotics department is strictly prohibited and subject to punishable crime, yet some pharmacy owners are openly selling those as 'drug' to the addicts.

Around 30 pharmacies have licenses to sell the life saving injections in the city as per prescriptions of the physicians concerned and the pharmacy owners are entitled to buy certain quantity of injections from the two designated pharmaceutical companies -- Gono Swasthya Pharma and Essential Drug Company -- with the permission of the narcotics department.

But, sources said, the traders very often manage to buy more injections than they are entitled giving bribe to the dishonest officials and sell those in the open market at a much higher rate. And thus, these two intoxicating injections easily reach the addicts.

The traders or pharmacies having government license buy each ampoule of pathedine and morphine from Gono Swasthya at around Tk 14 and Tk 18 respectively but sell them between Tk 200 and Tk 400 at the pharmacies in front of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and other city areas, sources said.

The traders said they do not take exorbitant price from 'genuine' patients or customers who show them prescription of doctors.

They, however, admitted of charging 'little' higher prices from people (suspecting them as addicts) who fail to show prescriptions.

"Sometime we take higher price from certain customers but we don't do that with the patients or people who come with genuine cause," said Jahangir Alam, a pharmacy owner at Panchlaish near CMCH.

Ashish, owner of another pharmacy at Kapashgola, said he is quite aware of the importance and use of these injections and never sells these injections to wrong customers.

Wahiduzzaman, deputy director of narcotics department, denied the allegations of taking bribes at his department in providing the permission for buying the injections beyond the certain limit.

He, however, said they are now contemplating measures to examine the allegations of taking bribes. "We will take action if things are found wrong."