Staff Reporter :
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed from Shakhra Komorpur border in Debhata upazila of Satkhira district early Wednesday on charge of issuing fake Covid-19 certificates other fraudulent activities.
After arrest, he was flown to the RAB headquarters in the capital by a helicopter.
Later, RAB launched a drive at his uttara residence around 12:30pm and recovered about one lakh counterfeit currency notes from there. Finally RAB handed over Sahead to DB (DMP) on yesterday afternoon for further extensive information.
Earlier, tipped off, a team of RAB-6 arrested Shahed from the bordering area around 5:20 am, said Lieutenant Colonel Ashik Billah, Director (media) of RAB Headquarters.
RAB members also recovered a firearm and some bullets from his possession, he said.
Briefing reporters at Tejgaon helipad in the capital, Additional Director General (ADG) of RAB Col Tofael Mostafa Sarwar said the elite force had been following Shahed for the last nine days to arrest him as he was frequently changing his locations. Based on secret information, a team of RAB Intelligence Wing with the help of local Rab-6 Battalion arrested Shahed from a boat while he was trying to flee to the neighbouring country wearing a veil, he said.
Some local ‘dalals’ (brokers), including Bachchu Dalal, were helping him flee to India, Mostafa Sarwar claimed.
Though the brokers escaped sensing the presence of the elite force, RAB has been conducting drive to arrest them, he added. “We’ve interrogated Shahed primarily and scrutinized his statement. Besides, we’ve some information about the brokers and working to bust the racket it,” said the Rab ADG.
The Director General (DG) of Rab talked to reporters at a press conference about the arrest of Shahed around 3 pm on Wednesday.
The DG narrated how they arrested the fraudster and replied to different questions of journalists.
The RAB DG said that Shahed used to introduce himself as a retired army officer and high government officials. He was also trying to establish himself as a person with clean image, said the Rab official.
“But he was a fraud and clever person. He has earned a lot of money through MLM business. We came to know through various media that around 50 cases were filed at different police stations across the country against him. We are verifying those,” he said.
Replying to a question, the DG said he went to different areas, including Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Cumilla and Satkhira in the last nine days to avoid arrest.
“Sometimes he travelled in his own car, sometimes in a rental car, sometimes in a truck and sometimes on foot RAB DG added.
In a first briefing at Satkhira Stadium around 8am, RAB’s Legal and Media Wing Director Lt Col Ashiq Billah said Shahed had a plan to cross the border in the early hours.
He was wearing a burqa while fleeing by a boat with the help of a local smuggler so that no one can recognise him, said the official.
Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, DG, of RAB, made the announcement of handing over Shahed to DB during a press briefing around 3pm.
As the DB was investigating the case, Shahed would be handed over to them, said Al-Mamun.
Meanwhile, huge counterfeit currencies have reportedly been recovered from the Uttara residence of Shahed.
A team of the elite force along with Shahed entered the house, led by RAB Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam.
After the one-hour drive, Shahed was again taken back to the RAB headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has sought documents from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and Bangladesh Bank about Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed over his corruption.
It is mentionable that on Tuesday evening, the elite force arrested managing director of the Regent Hospital from Gazipur district.
Shahed had been absconding since Rab raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of his hospital on July 6, and arrested eight people on charge of issuing fake Coronavirus test reports in addition to charging the admitted Covid-19 patients exorbitant fees.
The head office of Regent group along with the both hospitals was sealed off and 16 people, including the chairman, were sued on charge of issuing fake coronavirus test reports.
