(Rishika Iyer, Intern Journalist): Mohammed Shaheed, a 43-year-old hospital owner from Bangladesh gave out fake Covid-19 test results and duped over an estimate of $500,000. This scam has shattered the confidence citizens have in the country’s medical establishments. He provided patients with a negative report for the test results and also charged excess to the people coming in for treatments.
Shaheed then tried to escape from Bangladesh and was caught crossing a river which leads to India. He was wearing a burqa to seem unidentifiable. He was caught after 9 days of authorities trying to chase him.
The spokesperson of the country’s Rapid Action Battalion Colonel Ashique Billah said that Shaheed owned two medical facilities in which he conducted over 4000 genuine coronavirus tests and 6500 fake tests. The police have now kept him in custody for 10 days for questioning.
However, medical facilities deceiving people is not a new thing in Bangladesh. Last week, a medical facility was caught providing fake certificates to people without actually taking the test.
The authorities are concerned that these things could spread paranoia amongst people to take the tests. This could also discourage people from taking tests. The current number of people affected by COVID-19 is nearing 2 lakh, but officials think the numbers might be much higher due to the limited testing is done.
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