RAB nabs seven Covid certificate forgers in city
FE REPORT | Monday, 16 May 2022
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel arrested seven persons for their alleged involvement in issuance of fake coronavirus- negative certificates to Bangladeshi passengers bound for overseas countries.
Following complaints by the victims, a team of the elite force, on a tip-off, arrested the seven fraudsters from Banani area of the capital early Sunday.
Commander of RAB-1 Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Al Momen disclosed the information to the media at a press briefing at Uttara RAB-1 office on the day.
The arrested persons are: Jashim Uddin (28), Md Tarequl Islam (26), Md Alamgir Hossain (20), Md Ripon Mia (28), Md Ariful Islam (20), Ahmed Hossain Sahadat (18) and Md Shamim Hossain (30).
The RAB official said the arrestees did the act of fraudulence by issuing fake Covid-19 negative certificates to the Bangladeshi people ready to depart for foreign countries, especially Middle East.
They impersonated doctors, nurses and staffers of Covid-19 hospitals and realised Tk10,000 and even more from each individual through mobile financial service bKash in exchange for issuing fake coronavirus certificates, added the RAB official.
RAB also recovered some fake positive and negative Covid-19 certificates (photocopies), two mobile SIM cards (used in receiving money from the passengers), one pen-drive, cash Tk41,869, an ATM card of Dutch Bangla Bank and eight mobile phone sets from the arrestees' possession.
"They (seven arrestees) allured the foreign-bound passengers by giving them false promise to resolve coronavirus certificate-related problems," said Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Al Moment.
He added the arrestees realised Tk10,000 or even more from each of the overseas-bound passengers over the past few months.
The RAB official further said the arrestees had admitted their guilt, adding they were involved with an organised fraud gang and took a huge sum of money from the foreign-bound Bangladeshi passengers by providing them with fake coronavirus negative certificates.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com