Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed Karim alias Shahed Karim has pleaded not guilty, and demanded justice in a Dhaka court.
He made the claim while giving his self-defence statement before the Dhaka Special Tribunal 1 Judge, KM Imrul Kayes in a case filed under the Arms Act with Uttara police station.
Judge KM Imrul Kayesh on Wednesday read out charges with Shahed in the dock quoting statements of prosecution witnesses in the case and asked him if he pleads guilty or not.
Replying to which Shahed told the court that no firearms were recovered from his possession and he is innocent.
After the hearing, the tribunal fixed Thursday for arguments in the case.
Also Read - 4 more witnesses testify against Shahed in arms case
Earlier on Tuesday, the same tribunal recorded the deposition of prosecution witnesses against Regent owner Shahed in the arms case.
Dhaka Special Tribunal 1 Judge, KM Imrul Kayes, on Tuesday, set Wednesday to let Shahed defend himself against the deposition of the prosecution witnesses.
11 out of 14 prosecution witnesses testified before the tribunal on the same day.
Detective Branch (DB) Inspector Syrul Islam, who is the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet of the case to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.
On August 27, the same court indicted Shahed in the case.
Also Read - Charges framed against Regent Hospital owner Shahed in arms case
On July 19, Shahed led the DB to an abandoned car on Sonargaon Janapath Road in Uttara on a special drive. A pistol, a bullet, a magazine, 10 bottles of phensedyl, and five bottles of liquor were recovered, said DB Additional Commissioner Abdul Baten
Later, the detectives filed two cases against Shahed with the Uttara West police under the Narcotics Control Act and Arms Act.
On July 6, law enforcement raided the Mirpur and Uttara branches of Regent Hospital and found that the hospital issued fake Covid-19 certificates to patients and charged excessive fees to patients admitted there.
The Regent Group head office and both hospital branches were sealed off and 16 people, including the chairman, were sued on the charge of issuing fake coronavirus test reports.
