Election Commission blocks Shahed’s NID card

The Election Commission (EC) has blocked the national identity (NID) card of Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed.

Election Commission Secretary Md Alamgir disclosed the information after a meeting of the commission on Monday.

Mohammad Shahed's real name is Shahed Karim but he is now using NID card with the intentionally changed name "Mohammad Shahed," according to sources.

The Election Commission issued a NID card on his name in 2008 with the number 2692618145885. But Shahed amended his NID card in 2019 and his current smart NID number is 8650406187. 

While amending the NID card, he became "Mohammad Shahed" from "Shahed Karim."

"We are trying to find out the people involved in changing Shahed's name," Alamgir said, adding that actions will be taken against them and Shahed.

Nadia Farzana, additional deputy commissioner (media and public relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told The Business Standard: "DMP's Detective Branch is interrogating Shahed." 

"New information was uncovered about his fraudulent activities after interrogating him for the fourth day."

Meanwhile, a team of the Directorate General of Health Services submitted documents regarding Regent Hospital's irregularities to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday. 

Earlier, the ACC issued a letter to the DGHS asking for documents about Shahed and his hospital.

On July 16, a Dhaka court placed Shahed and Regent Group Managing Director Masud Parvez on a 10-day remand each and its employee Tarekul Islam on a seven-day remand over issuing fake Covid-19 certificates.

On July 15, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Shahed from a border area of Satkhira.

RAB filed a case against 17 people including Shahed with Uttara West police station on July 7.

Before that, on July 6, RAB raided Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital over faking Covid-19 certificates.