Fake Covid Report: Private clinic owner held in Pabna

Less than a day after the Regent Hospital's scam of came to surface, law enforcers on Wednesday arrested the owner of a private clinic in Pabna's Ishwardi upazila on charge of issuing fake Covid-19 certificates.

A Pabna court yesterday sent Abdul Wahab Rana, owner of Rooppur Medicare Clinic, to jail.

Earlier, acting on a tip-off, police arrested him from the clinic and recovered several fake test reports.

The clinic started collecting samples from suspected Covid patients after Eid-ul-Fitr holiday as the demand for coronavirus testing suddenly surged in the area, saidSheikh Nasir Uddin, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi Police Station.

It is because the authorities of nearby Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant made Covid-19 test mandatory for their workers and staffers before joining work, he said.

"They used to provide reports with a signature of one Abu Sayeed, chairman of Brammanbaria Medical College and Hospital," OC Nasir said.

The Daily Star could not independently verify if the signature was faked too.

The OC said the clinic used to charge Tk 4,000-5,000 for a "test" though they had no permission to conduct such tests.

Wahab, his associate Sujon Ahmed and Abu Sayeed, who allegedly signed the reports, have been sued in a case filed in this regard with Ishwardi Police Station, OC Nasir said.