The Rapid Action Battalion has confirmed that Mohammad Shahed, owner of Regent Hospital and chairman of Regent Group, was on his way to fleeing to India illegally through the Satkhira border and wore a burqa to hide his identity.
“He resized his moustache and beard. His hair was basically white, but he coloured it black. He also planned to have his hair cut. If he had escaped, he might have also shaved his hair,” RAB Additional Director General (Operations) Colonel Tofail Mostafa Sarwar told the journalist at Satkhira following Shahed’s arrest.
Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed, escorted by RAB officials, get off a helicopter in Dhaka after arrest on July 15, 2020 | Rajib Dhar/Dhaka TribuneLuckily, RAB arrested him before he could cross the border. Shahed was in a burqa when RAB boarded him on a helicopter to bring him to Dhaka.
“Our intelligence team, as well as another team, were working to arrest Shahed. But he [Shahed] frequently changed his location. We had information that Shahed was trying to flee to India using a boat through Lobongoboti Cannal beside Ichamati River in Satkhira’s Debhata upazila,” Colonel Tofail said.
Also Read: Regent Hospital Chairman Shahed arrested
RAB suspected that Bachchu, the most prominent trafficker in the area, was helping Shahed to cross the border illegally. So they conducted a night-long operation and was finally able to nab Shahed, the prime accused in the Regent Hospital fake Covid-19 certificate scam, at 5:10am on Wednesday.
“We seized a pistol, a magazine and three live rounds from his possession.”
Replying to a question, he also said the boat driver was able to flee by swimming out of the scene through the canal, but Shahed failed to escape and was arrested.
Colonel Tofail said that they also received some additional information, but that will not be disclosed now for the sake of further investigation.