The High Court ordered the surrender of all five Rid Pharmaceuticals Ltd officials who had been acquitted by a lower court in a 2009 case regarding the production of adulterated paracetamol syrup.
On November 28, 2016, a Dhaka court had acquitted Rid Pharma Managing Director Mizanur Rahman, Directors Sheuli Rahman and Abdul Gani and pharmacists Mahbubul Islam and Enamul Haque, stating that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges due to the case investigation officer's inefficiency.
Justice A. K. M. Asaduzzaman and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil presided over the hearing for the appeal filed by the government regarding the lower court's acquittal.
Overturning the lower court's verdict, the High Court ordered the officials to surrender before the trial court concerned within seven days of receiving the order.
In June-August 2009, 28 children from all over Bangladesh died of renal failure after ingesting a paracetamol syrup manufactured by Rid Pharma.
A probe into the incident found that Rid Pharma had replaced propylene glycol with diethylene glycol, a chemical mainly used in the tannery and rubber industries, in order to cut costs.
On August 10, 2009, the then drug superintendent Shafiqul Islam had filed a case against the five officials with the Dhaka Drug Court. Four more cases had been filed in Brahmanbaria, Comilla, Narayanganj and Sylhet.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
