IEDCR director assaulted in his office; DAB accused of involvement

The director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) was assaulted inside his office on Wednesday after a group of people entered his room. The incident took place at around 11:00 am.

Professor Quazi Ahmed Zaki, the institute’s director, said activists of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), an organisation of ruling BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party)-supporting physicians, had created a mob and carried out the attack.

Prothom Alo has obtained video footage showing the assault on Professor Quazi Ahmed.

The footage shows him holding a meeting with several people in his office when eight to nine men enter the room. They pull him out of his chair and begin assaulting him.

IEDCR is an important government agency responsible for monitoring disease trends in the country, conducting research and issuing alerts.

The institute also works jointly with organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

After the BNP-led government came to power, it appointed Professor Quazi Ahmed as the director, the institute’s highest-ranking official. He is a public health specialist who recently conducted research into the effectiveness of the measles vaccine.

Professor Harun Al Rashid, president of DAB, confirmed the incident to Prothom Alo.

He said, “He (Quazi Ahmed) is also at fault in some respects.”

Asked what Quazi Ahmed had done wrong, Harun showed a photograph on his mobile phone and said, “How could Quazi Ahmed hold a meeting with Meerjady Sabrina Flora in his own office during this government?”   

Public health specialist Meerjady Sabrina Flora served as director of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) and the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) during the Awami League government, which was ousted following the July mass uprising.

She became widely known for briefing the media on the covid-19 pandemic. She later served as additional director general of the DGHS.

A public health specialist who was present in Quazi Ahmed’s office during the assault told Prothom Alo, on condition of anonymity, that they had never seen the people who carried out the attack at IEDCR before.

Mushtuq Husain, a public health specialist and former principal scientific officer at IEDCR, told Prothom Alo that assaulting the institute’s director in his own office was highly reprehensible.

He said the incident must be investigated and those responsible must be punished.