COVID-19 test scam: Regent Hospital owner Mohammad Shahed arrested in Bangladesh

RAB spokesman additional superintendent of police Sujoy Sarkar told Indian news agency UNI that Shahed was arrested around 0500 hrs. He was now taken to Dhaka, said Sarkar.

Director of RAB legal and media wing Lieutenant Colonel Ashik Billah told reporters that he was arrested with arms near Debhata Border of the district.

Earlier on Tuesday, RAB arrested Regent Group’s managing director Masud Parvez in a case filed over COVID-19 test forgery.

RAB on July 7 and 8 sealed off Regent Group’s headquarters in Dhaka and two hospitals, respectively in Uttara and Mirpur in the capital.

Regent Hospitals signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Directorate General of Health Services to provide COVID -19 treatments in March.

But a mobile court, led by RAB executive magistrate Sarwoer Alam, found that the hospitals were operating without a license and issued around 6,000 COVID-19 certificates without conducting the test.

A case was filed with Uttara West police station on the following day against Shahed and 16 other officials and staff members in charge of issuing fake COVID-19 certificates, charging fees for

free testing and providing substandard health services.