It was ‘factual error’; no evidence found

The forgery case filed against Aparajita International proprietor Sharmin Jahan was a matter of factual error, a police probe report has found.

In the report, investigators have prayed to the court to relieve Sharmin -- member of Awami League's central sub-committee on women and children and a currently suspended assistant registrar of Dhaka University -- from charges of the case filed against her by BSMMU authorities over supplying fake N95 masks.

Investigation Officer (IO) Mohammad Morshed Hossain Khan, inspector of Detective Branch (DB), on April 28 filed the final report in the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

The report terms the case a "matter of factual error", as no evidence was found against the lone accused during a nine-month investigation.

The case's allegation of breach of trust through forgery was not proved, the investigator said in the report.

In addition, the complainant did not provide right information to investigators during the probe, the report said.

The case appeared to be a matter of purchase with government funds following the Public Procurement Act, 2006 and the Public Procurement Rules, 2008, the report added.

According to the laws and agreement between Aparajita International and BSMMU, the N95 masks supplied to BSMMU were up to standard, the IO said in his probe report.

"The final report has been submitted to the court. No evidence was found against the accused during investigation," IO Morshed told The Daily Star on Thursday.

Contacted the same day, BSMMU Proctor Prof Syed Mozaffar Ahmed, also the complainant of the case, said, "The investigator informed me he was going to submit the probe report to the court, but I do not know the details yet."

On July 23 last year, Prof Mozaffar filed the case against Sharmin with Shahbagh Police Station, bringing allegations of supplying fake N95 masks to the hospital's Covid-19 isolation unit.

The following day, Sharmin was arrested from the capital's Shahbagh area and was placed on a three-day remand on July 25.

Two days later on July 26, DU suspended her from her post of assistant registrar for tarnishing the image of the university as well as running a business organisation without taking prior permission from the authorities.

On September 10, Sharmin got bail on grounds of being a woman and the mother of a baby. Moreover, her remand report was usual.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), BSMMU authorities decided to purchase safety gears for frontline workers of its newly launched Covid-19 unit on May 27 last year.

After testing samples at a DGHS approved lab, on June 27, BSMMU approved the work order to provide 11,000 N95 masks in the name of Aparajita International. The company proceeded to supply around 3,460 masks in four consignments.

Speaking to The Daily Star on Thursday, DU Pro-Vice Chancellor (administration) Prof Muhammad Samad said, "The final decision regarding Sharmin's suspension will be taken based on the court's verdict of the case."