Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved a case against six accused of embezzling Tk 10 crore during the purchase of curtains and instruments for Faridpur Medical College Hospital (FMCH).
The case was approved following a decision taken at a regular meeting of the ACC held at its headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The accused are: Abdullah Al Mamun, proprietor of MS Anik Traders; Munshi Farukh Hossain, proprietor of MS Ahmed Enterprise; Munshi Sazzad Hossain of (admin) National Hospital; Associate Professor (dental) Dr Gonopoti Bishshwash; former Junior Consultant Dr Minakkhi Chakma; and former Pathologist Dr AHM Nurul Islam.
After investigating the matter, the Commission approved the case against the six FMCH officials, confirmed ACC Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.
Earlier, the anti-graft body interrogated 13 doctors over the curtain scam.
According to the ACC case file, FMCH authorities were accused of gross corruption in the procurement of medical machinery and materials, including buying a piece of curtain used as a bed screen for Tk 37.50 lakh.
ACC sources also mentioned a Department of Human Services (DHS) report showing that the hospital authorities had submitted a bill of Tk 52.66 crore for buying several machines, whose actual cost was only Tk 11 crore.
The report said, the hospital authorities had shown the price of a bed screen used in the ICU as Tk 37.50 lakh, an oxygen generating plant for Tk 5.27 crore, a vacuum plant for Tk 87.75 lakh, a BAEES monitoring plant for Tk 23.75 lakh, three digital blood pressure machines for Tk 30.57 lakh, and a head cardiac stethoscope for Tk1.12 lakh.
On August 20, the High Court had directed the ACC to investigate the alleged corruption in FMCH and submit a report within six months.
