The Ministry of Health has called for an explanation on how Regent Hospital got the certificate to become a Covid-19 dedicated hospital without renewing its license.
A letter signed by Umme Habiba, senior assistant secretary of the Health Ministry, was sent to the director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) seeking an explanation of the matter.
The letter said: "The image of the country and the government has been tarnished as RAB raided the hospital on July 8, and also for the several irregularities and corruption allegations against it which were published in various media."
The letter also called for the cancellation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed between the health department and the hospital.
It also asked for a report to be sent to the ministry immediately after investigating the issue of door to door sample collections and false reports, in violation of the terms of the MoU.
Moreover, all the activities of the hospital must be cancelled and sealed off immediately, the letter added.
On Monday, the Uttara and Mirpur offices of the Regent Hospital were raided under the leadership of Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) mobile court.
The hospital was deceiving and extorting money from general people by providing them Covid-19 certificates without conducting any tests. RAB's mobile court found evidence of at least 6,000 fake Covid-19 test certificates
A day later, on Tuesday, RAB sealed off the head office of Regent Hospital with directives from DGHS. A case has been filed against 17 people, including Regent Group Chairman Shahed, with Uttara West police station.
