Aparajita International owner Sharmin Jahan has claimed that she was framed and charged for supplying fake N95 masks to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital.
“I have been framed. If I had supplied fake masks, then the hospital authorities should have returned them to me. But they filed a case against me instead,” Sharmin said.
She made the statements during her remand hearing on Saturday. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Moinul Islam granted a three-day remand to Sharmin following a virtual hearing of the remand plea.
The court’s General Recording Officer (GRO), Sub-Inspector Nizam Uddin, confirmed the matter.
At the remand hearing, Sharmin said to the judge: “The hospital authorities didn’t question mask quality when I supplied them the first two times. But when I supplied the masks for the third time, they said they were fake masks.”
“If those were fake masks then they should have returned them to me. Instead of doing that, they sued me. Actually, they did it to frame me,” said Sharmin.
On Friday, Sharmin, also an assistant registrar at Dhaka University, was arrested around 10.15pm from the capital’s Shahbagh area.
Sharmin is a student from the academic session 1998-99 from the university's Islamic Studies Department. She joined the university as a section officer and was later promoted to assistant registrar.
She also served as president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League unit at Dhaka University’s Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall, and as a member of the Awami League’s Central Sub-committee on Women and Children Affairs for one term.
Case Details
Soon after the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded in March, the BSMMU started collecting samples to conduct tests of the novel coronavirus suspects.
In May, when the state-run facility went for immediate procurement of safety gear for healthcare workers, Aparajita International won a contract to supply 11,000 N95 masks.
On June 30, the company supplied both the first batch of 1,300 masks, and the second lot of 460, to BSMMU.
The third lot of 1,000 masks was supplied on July 2, and another 700 masks in the fourth lot, on July 13.
The masks supplied in the first and second batches did not have any issues, but the third and fourth lots were found to be faulty, according to the case documents.
The doctors found that the masks did not meet the N95 specifications and complained to the authorities, BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Kanak Kanti Barua told Dhaka Tribune on Friday.
Following the complaints, Aparajita International took back the faulty batches of the mask and its contract was terminated, said Barua.
On July 18, BSMMU authorities served the supplier a notice seeking an explanation for the faulty masks. Aparajita International’s owner Sharmin apologized in a written response.
Following an internal inquiry, the BSMMU decided to sue Sharmin, said VC Barua.
Soon after the case was filed on Friday, Sharmin dismissed the allegations as “conspiracies” against her.
July 3 raid
Earlier this month, a Dhaka district administration mobile court raided a warehouse of Aparajita International and found fake hand sanitizers, surgical masks, N95 masks, and PPE, stocked without proper documents.
Executive Magistrate Mahnaz Hossain Fariba told Dhaka Tribune on Saturday that during the raid she saw that they had converted a hotel into a warehouse and kept healthcare equipment in an unhealthy environment.
She said: “When we asked for valid documents of the products, they did not submit any. According to the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), when someone produces or imports N95 masks, they have to take legal permission.
Sharmin Jahan’s husband Md Sariful Alam was present at the scene. He told them they were not importers, but suppliers. Their company name was Aparajita International, which supplies products to BSMMU.
So, Mahnaz asked for their work permit, saying she just wanted to see any kind of legal document.
A few hours later, Shariful somehow managed the document of an importer from whom they allegedly bought the products; but it was not on paper, just a picture.
“Since Md Shariful Alam was present at the crime scene on behalf of the owner of Aparajita International, he was fined Tk10,000. We also destroyed that entire stock,” she said.