Fake Covid Test: Court accepts charges against Regent’s Shahed
A Dhaka court has taken cognisance of the charges framed against 14 officials of Regent Group, including its Chairman Mohammad Shahed and Managing Director Masud Parvez, for issuing fake Covid-19 certificates and illegally charging patients for tests and treatments.
The 12 other charge-sheeted accused are Regent Group Public Relations Officer Tariqul Islam Shibli, Project Officer Rakibul Islam Sumon, Human Resources Officer Amit Banik, Health Technologist Hatim Ali, Administrative Officer Ahsan Habib Majumder, Regent Hospital Uttara Branch Managing Director Md Mizanur Rahman, employees Abdur Rashid Khan Jewel, Shimul Parvez, Dipayan Basu, Polash Ali, Shaykhul Islam and driver Abdus Salam.
Ten of them, including Shahed and Parvez, are now behind the bars.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jashim yesterday accepted the charges brought against them after scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents.
The magistrate issued arrest warrants against four fugitives -- Shimul, Dipayon, Shaykhul, and Polash Ali -- and directed the officer-in-charge of Uttara West Police Station to submit an update on the execution of arrest warrants against them by October 12.
The magistrate also accepted charges against 17-year-old Kamrul Islam, a receptionist of the group, and sent the case to the Juvenile Court for trial.
Earlier on March 29, Nazmul Haque, Rab-1 senior assistant superintendent of police, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.
The names of two other accused -- Ahsan Habib Hasan and Mahbub Hossain Mollah -- were not included in the charge sheet as the investigation officer did not find any evidence against them.
In the charge sheet, 40 people have been named as prosecution witnesses.
On July 7 last year, a case was filed against Shahed and 15 others over issuing fake Covid-19 test reports and charging people unfairly for testing and treatment.
Shahed was arrested in Satkhira on July 15 last year when he was trying to leave the country by boat.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in an arms case on September 28 last year.
On August 18, 2010, he was sentenced to six month's imprisonment and fined Tk 53 lakh by a court in absentia in a cheque dishonour case.
Comments