Dhaka University (DU) authorities have suspended Assistant Registrar Sharmin Jahan, who and her company are embroiled in a controversy for reportedly supplying fake N95 face masks to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
A media release signed by its Public Relations Officer Mahmood Alam on Sunday, said she was suspended for violating service rules and ‘tarnishing the university's image.’
It also said she was served a show-cause notice and asked to respond within seven days.
Police arrested her on Friday, hours after the BSMMU started a case against her. She was produced in court the next day, when investigators were given three days to interrogate her in custody.
Asked how Sharmin would respond to the show-cause notice while in custody, DU PR officer Alam told Dhaka Tribune: ““Her lawyer will consult her and reply to the show-cause legally.”
He said the move came in line with the instructions of Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman.
According to the media statement, Sharmin has violated the university’s regulations by running a business without prior clearance.
“She has tarnished the image of Dhaka University,” it said, before adding that she was suspended on Sunday.
A 2012 graduate from the DU's Islamic Studies Department, Sharmin is the owner of Aparajita International, which allegedly supplied the fake masks to BSMMU hospital, several times, leading it to sue her and her company.
Sharmin served as president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League unit at the university’s Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall when she was a student. Later, she was also a member of the Awami League’s central sub-committee on Women and Children Affairs for one term.
