No testimony was recorded on Wednesday in the corruption case filed against six people, including former Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) director general Prof Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad and Regent Hospital chairman Mohammad Sahed, also known as Sahed Karim.
As the scheduled witness did not appear before the court, Judge Mohammad Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-6 set 4 October as the next date for recording testimony.
Wednesday was scheduled for recording testimony in the case.
However, as the witness was absent, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor Mohammad Nur-e Alam sought more time. The court then fixed the new date.
Sahed was produced before the court from jail, while the other accused, who are out on bail, were also present.
The other accused are former DGHS director Aminul Hasan; Dr Yunus Ali, former deputy director (Hospital-1); Dr Shafieur Rahman, former assistant director (Hospital-1); and Dr Didarul Islam, a research officer.
The ACC filed the case on 23 September 2020, with its Dhaka Integrated District Office-1.
ACC Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwary lodged the case.
After completing the investigation, Patwary submitted a charge sheet against the six accused on 30 September 2021.
Azad was not named in the case when it was initially filed. He was later included in the charge sheet after his involvement surfaced during further investigation.
According to the case statement, the accused, acting in collusion and abusing their positions, allegedly facilitated the conversion of Regent Hospital, despite its licence not being renewed, into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital.
They were also accused of facilitating the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and arranging free testing of 3,939 COVID-19 samples at the laboratory of the government-run National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM).
The case alleges that Regent Hospital subsequently charged patients Tk3,500 each for testing, collecting Tk1.378 crore in total.
The accused were also alleged to have taken steps to send a draft proposal to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare seeking Tk1.962 crore to cover the monthly food expenses of doctors, nurses, ward boys and other staff at Regent Hospital’s Mirpur and Uttara branches.
The court framed charges against the accused on 12 June 2022, formally starting the trial.
So far, 12 witnesses have testified before the court.
