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Former DGHS DG Azad’s bail extended till Jan 23

A Dhaka court today (Novemner 2)  extended the bail for former health directorate chief Abul Kalam Azad to January 23, 2022 in a case filed over the Regent Hospital scam.

Dhaka Senior Special Judge KM Emrul Kayes passed the order on Tuesday after after Abul Kalam Azad submitted a petition, seeking an extension of his bail in the case.

Earlier on October 7, the same court granted him ad-interim bail, which remained valid till Tuesday.

The judge will decide on January 23 whether to accept the charges against Azad and five others.

Among the five other accused, 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 of DGHS, who are now on bail, were present in the courtroom today.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had charged the former director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed and four others with embezzlement of government funds over the scandal.

After a yearlong investigation, the graft watchdog filed the charges in court on September 30, when the investigating officer pleaded to the court to issue a warrant for Azad, who was listed as a fugitive in the charge sheet.

Azad was not named in the case initially but the chargesheet added his name after the probe. He is accused of signing a Covid-19 treatment deal with Regent, an unlicensed hospital.

The ACC started the case against Regent Group Chairman Shahed and four others on September 22 last year.

According to the case statement, the accused converted Regent Hospital, which had shut down, into a dedicated Covid-19 Hospital without renewing its license and abused power as they wanted benefit by illegal means.

They embezzled over Tk 1.37 crore through testing samples of Covid-19 patients in a government-run lab Nipsom, the statement said.

They also stand accused of illegally collecting Tk1.96 crore a month as food allowance for doctors, nurses and other officials of the hospital.

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