EC sues Dr Sabrina for forging NID cards

The Election Commission (EC) has filed a case against JKG Healthcare Chairman Dr Sabrina Chowdhury for having made two national identity (NID) cards through forgery.

On Sunday, Gulshan area Election Officer Mohammad Momin Mia filed the case with Badda Police Station, under the section 14 and 15 of the National Identity Registration Act, 2010.

Parvez Hossain, officer-in-charge of Badda Police Station, confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.

During the investigation of various irregularities against Dr Sabrina, a team of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), led by its Deputy Director Selina Akhter Moni, discovered that she has retained two national identity cards from two different areas. 

"Dr Sabrina has committed crime according to law, by becoming a voter in two areas through NIDs issued with forged information," Election Officer Momin Mia said in the case statement asking to take legal action against her. 

A maximum imprisonment of one year and a fine of Tk20,000 will be penalized if the allegation of providing false information is proven as per section 14 of the National Identity Registration Act. Same punishment can be inflicted under the section 15, if the allegation of taking more than one national identity cards is proven.

Dr Sabrina had provided with two different birth dates – one on December 2, 1973 and another on December 2, 1986, variant permanent and current addresses and even dissimilar spouse names in the two NIDs.

Earlier on June 15, a man named Kamal Hossain filed a case with Tejgaon Police Station on the charge of issuing fake reports of coronavirus tests.

Police arrested Sabrina, the suspended doctor of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, on July 12.

On August 5, the detective branch of police filed the charge sheet against the eight accused in the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.

JKG Healthcare issued reports to 27,000 people in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, without collecting samples for coronavirus tests.

Most of the reports have been found to be fake. The company was raided on June 23 and sealed off.

Later, a case was filed against them at Tejgaon Police Station.

On August 20, a Dhaka court framed charges against eight people, including Dr Sabrina Chowdhury, in a fraud case filed over issuing fake Covid-19 test reports.

At the same time, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarafuzzaman Ansari fixed August 27 for taking the testimony of witnesses.

Sabrina and seven other accused are now in jail.