A judge has asked Abul Kalam Azad, former DG of health services, about how he got acquainted with Mohammad Shahed alias Shahed Karim, the disgraced chairman of Regent Hospital, reports bdnews24.com.
Dr Azad was granted bail in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over the Regent Hospital scandal after he surrendered on Thursday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayesh asked the question as he granted Azad bail until Nov 2.
The anti-graft agency filed the case over the embezzlement of government funds. Azad stands accused of signing a Covid-19 treatment deal with Regent, an unlicensed hospital.
Besides Azad and Shahed, four others accused in the case are former DGHS Director Aminul Hasan, Deputy Director Yunus Ali, Assistant Director Shafiur Rahman and Research Officer Didarul Islam.
In July 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Shahed on the Satkhira frontier for his roles in a Covid-19 test scam that roiled Bangladesh’s healthcare sector. The arrest was made after the Covid-19 scam involving his hospital came to light.
"I have committed no crime in my life and will never in future,” Azad said in court on Thursday.
"The coronavirus pandemic had hit the entire world. Under those circumstances, the contract was signed with Regent aiming to save people's lives, following a directive from the health secretary. The health minister and the health secretary both were present in the signing ceremony,” Azad said.
“I never knew that Shahed was a fraud. The ministry directed us to conduct 50 coronavirus tests per day through Regent Hospital. After we received complaints that Regent Hospital was charging people for the tests, I said that those two branches [of Regent Hospital] would be shut."
“How did you get quite pally with Shahed?” the judge asked Azad at this point.
Dr Azad said he met Shahed during the contract signing.