Former DGHS chief gets bail in Regent Hospital scam case

A Dhaka court on Thursday granted interim bail to former director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Abul Kalam Azad in the Regent Hospital scam case.

Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge KM Imrul Kayes granted the relief to Azad till

2 November on a bond of Tk 20,000 after the ex-DGHS surrendered in the court this morning.

On 20 September, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) approved a chargesheet against six people, including Azad, in the corruption case.

Azad was not initially named in the charge-sheet but his name was added later following an investigation, deputy director of ACC’s Public Relations Office Md Arif Sadeq told UNB.

Deputy director of the anti-graft commission Farid Ahmed Patwary lodged the complaint against five people at Dhaka Coordinated Office-1 in September last year for embezzling Tk 13.7 million by issuing fake Covid certificates from Regent Hospital.

The five others accused in the case are Regent Group chairman Shaheduzzan, former DGHS director Aminul Hasan, deputy director Yunus Ali, assistant director Shafiur Rahman, and research officer Didarul Islam.

Last year, numerous cases of mismanagement and irregularities in the health sector came to the light when physicians of some government hospitals, including Mugda General Hospital, complained of receiving low-quality masks and protective equipment.

The issuance of fake Covid-19 certificates by some hospitals triggered huge criticism at home and abroad. The scan came to light during a drive at Regent Hospital on 6 July.

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Regent chairman Mohammad Shahed from the Komorpur border area in Debhata upazila of Satkhira district on 15 July on charges of issuing fake Covid certificates.