A Dhaka court has asked the investigating officer (IO) to submit by January 25 the probe report in a case filed against Sharmin Jahan, proprietor of Aparajita International, for allegedly supplying fake face masks in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital.
Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique fixed the new date as the IO was unable to submit the probe report on Sunday (December 13).
On 23 July, BSMMU Proctor Syed Mozaffor Ahmed filed the case with Shahbagh police station accusing Aparajita International of supplying fake face masks in BSMMU.
Later on July 24, Sharmin Jahan, also the former assistant registrar at the Dhaka University (DU) Registrar's Office, was arrested from the capital's Shahbagh area.
According to the case statement, the BSMMU issued a work order to Aparajita International on Jun 27 to supply 11,000 masks.
The company supplied 1,300 masks in the first lot on June 30 of this year, 460 in the second, 1,000 in the third on July 2 and 700 in the fourth lot on July 13 to the hospital.
The masks supplied in the first and second lots were flawless, but the masks in the third and fourth batches were found to be faulty when distributed and used.
The quality of the masks fell short of specifications. Besides, users found some masks with torn straps, while misspelled English words were printed on some of them.
Aparajita International owner Sharmin Jahan was served a notice by the BSMMU on July 18, seeking an explanation, after the hospital authorities realized that the masks were faulty and may enhance the risks of Covid-19 transmission.
In reply, Sharmin Jahan ‘apologised’ in a written statement on July 20, which is equivalent to a confessional statement, Proctor Mozaffor Ahmed said in the case statement.
The BSMMU has been treating coronavirus patients since July 4.
nh/teb
