The Dhaka University (DU) authorities have said they are preparing to take action against Aparajita International owner Sharmin Jahan if a written complaint is lodged in this regard.
DU Pro Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof Muhammad Samad made the statement on Saturday.
Sharmin, assistant registrar at DU, was arrested on Friday and placed on a three-day remand on Saturday in connection with supplying fake masks to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital.
She was arrested over the case filed by BSMMU authorities, accusing her company of supplying fake N95 masks to the hospital.
DU vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman said: “We will scrutinize the issue of Sharmin to see if there were any rule violations.”
“Everything is being run according to the rules here in this university. For example, if a university faculty member teaches in different private universities as a part-timer seeking permission from the university authorities, they also have to pay a percentage from that income to DU,” he added.
However, Prof Akhtaruzzaman could not mention any specific regulation about whether a full-time staff could be involved in another occupation.
“If we find out that any of our officials are involved with any unethical deed, we investigate the issue and take necessary steps as per university laws,” the VC said.
“We have asked for related documents [based on the allegations] from the BSMMU VC to scrutinize the papers,” Prof Akhtaruzzaman added.
On Friday, before being arrested, Sharmin told Dhaka Tribune that she went to China for a PhD in Business Administration in August 2016. She said she came back to the country in January this year and resumed office in March.
However, Dhaka Tribune obtained an official No Objection Certificate (NOC) letter signed by DU Registrar Md Enamuzzaman, which shows she got the permission five months later than the time she mentioned.
The NOC was issued on January 22, 2017, stating Sharmin was free to depart for China.
DU acting Registrar Md Enamuzzaman was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
However, he told journalists on Friday: “She recently contacted us and asked to rejoin here.”
“We don’t know about her business. We will look into it and take necessary steps,” he added.
Sharmin claims innocence
On Friday, Sharmin dismissed the allegations as “conspiracies” against her.
“We did not supply fake masks. These products have been imported from China. We did not manufacture them. We are just supplying,” she told this newspaper.
The BSMMU could have informed them if the products were faulty, Sharmin said, before adding: “We could have checked them.”
She said she completed her graduation and post-graduation from Islamic Studies department of DU in the academic admission session 1998-99.
She also served as president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League unit at DU's Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall, and later as assistant secretary of the central Chhatra League, and as a member of the Awami League’s central sub-committee on women and children affairs for a term.
She joined DU as a section officer in 2010 and was later promoted to assistant registrar.
She was a PhD student of Human Resource Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in Wuhan, Hubei, China, where the new strain of coronavirus Covid-19 was first detected.
Soon after the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded in March, the BSMMU started collecting samples to conduct tests from novel coronavirus suspects.
In May, the state-run facility started treating Covid-19 patients and went for immediate procurement of safety gear for healthcare workers. Aparajita International won a contract to supply 11,000 N95 masks.
On June 30, it supplied the first batch of 1,300 masks, and the second lot of 460 was delivered the same day to the 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 braces of some face masks were found to be torn, and the printed text of some face masks had faulty English text, according to BSMMU.
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 masks and its contract was terminated, said Barua.
