‘How did you get close to Regent’s Shahed?’
A Dhaka court yesterday asked Abul Kalam Azad, former director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), how did he and Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed become so close.
It asked the question while hearing a petition submitted by Azad seeking his bail in a case filed over embezzling Tk 1.37 crore by Shahed and others.
After the hearing, the court granted ad interim bail to the ex-DG.
Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order upon a bond of Tk 20,000 and signatures of two guarantors after Azad, flanked by his lawyers, filed the bail application, ACC Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam told The Daily Star.
During yesterday's hearing, the judge asked Azad, "How did you become so close to Shahed?"
Azad replied, "I first met Shahed the day when the memorandum of understanding [between the DGHS and the Regent Hospital] was signed. The [health] minister and [health] secretary were present in the MoU-signing ceremony. I got acquainted with Shahed from there."
He claimed that at that time he did not know that Shahed was a fraud.
"Sir, I have diabetes. We've always worked for the welfare of the people... I've not committed any crime," Azad told the judge.
"Although the Regent Hospital did not renew its licence, the MoU was inked as per the directive of the [health] secretary in order to save lives," he said.
The defence told the court that the ex-DG was being framed.
The state lawyer opposed the bail petition, saying Azad signed the agreement with Regent Hospital without the health ministry's consent.
The lawyer claimed Azad, in collusion with other accused including Shahed, misappropriated Tk 1.37 crore which was earned illegally in the name of sample collection for Covid tests and treatment of coronavirus patients. So, the bail petition should be scrapped.
Upon hearing both the sides, the judge granted Azad the conditional bail till November 2.
On September 30, ACC Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwary, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet in the case to Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka against Abul Kalam Azad and five others.
The five others are: Shahed, DGHS former director (hospitals and clinics) Dr Aminul Hasan, deputy director (hospital-1) Dr Md Younus Ali, assistant director (hospital-1) Dr Md Shafiur Rahman and research officer Dr Md Didarul Islam.
The court then fixed November 2 to decide whether to accept the charge sheet or not.
Azad's name was not in the first information report of the case, but the name has been included in the charge sheet as his involvement in misappropriating the money was found during investigation, the IO said.
Of the accused, only Shahed is in jail, while the five others, including Azad, are now on bail.
Azad was shown "fugitive" in the charge sheet.
The ACC filed the case against Shahed and the others, without Azad, on September 22 last year.
Despite much discussion and criticisms, Azad was not accused in the case at that time.
According to the case statement, the accused converted Regent Hospital, which was closed, into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital without renewing its licence and abused power as they wanted benefit by illegal means.
They embezzled over Tk 1.37 crore through collections and testing samples of Covid-19 patients in a government-run lab Nipsom, the statement said.
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