Nine held with expired test kits for COVID-19
The Rapid Action Battalion seized a huge number of expired and substandard COVID-19 and HIV test kits and reagents at Mohammadpur and Banani in Dhaka on Thursday night.
RAB arrested nine people of three organisations that were involved in collecting and marketing the equipment, said RAB assistant director for media Emran Khan.
RAB officers said that they raided three firms at Banani and Mohammadpur on Thursday night and seized the equipment.
The firms are Biolab International, Hi-Tech Healthcare and Exon Technologies and Services.
The arrested are Biolab International owner Shamim Molla, manager Shahidul Alam, Exon Technologies and Services managing director Mahmudul Hasan, Hi-Tech Healthcare managing director Mostafa Kamal, employees of the companies Abdullah Al Baki, Ziaur Rahman, Sumon, Jahidul Amin Pulok and Sohel Rana.
Briefing media, RAB-2 director Imran Ullah Sarkar said that the companies were mainly collecting expired, soon-to-be expired and substandard medical equipment, test kits, reagents from local and foreign sources and then were tempering dates on the items.
RAB officials said that they were keeping an eye on Biolab International officials and raided their warehouse at Lalmatia of Mohammadpur on Thursday with the help of Directorate General of Drug Administration officials.
The raid continued till night as RAB noticed that the company staff were tempering expiry dates of the kits, said RAB officer Imran.
Later, RAB and DGDA officials raided Hi-Tech Healthcare and Exon Technologies and Services offices in Banani and found fraudulent and deceptive activities there.
Officers of the companies admitted that they had been selling tempered kits and other medical equipment since 2010, said the RAB officer.
He said that the companies were importing expired and soontobe expired kits and reagents from abroad at cheap rates and then marketing the items changing their labels with some machines.
RAB seized the medical equipment and machines.
The Rapid Action Battalion in July 2020 raided Regent Hospitals in Dhaka and arrested its chairman Shahed Karim on charge of faking several thousand COVID-19 certificates and for charging people fees for COVID-19 tests, which should be completely free.
In another scam, JKG Healthcare chairperson Sabrina Arif Chowdhury, his husband and some other staff were also arrested for faking several thousand COVID-19 certificates.
News Courtesy:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/135510/nine-held-with-expired-test-kits-for-covid-19
