DGHS suspends admin officer over corruption allegations

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) yesterday suspended an administrative officer of Institute of Health Technology, Abzal Hossain, for allegedly amassing a huge amount of wealth illegally.

“Since several reports were published against him over acquiring wealth illegally and the Anti-Corruption Commission is carrying out an enquiry, we've suspended him,” said a DGHS deputy director requesting anonymity.

The commission also issued a notice to Abzal's wife Rubina Khanam, a stenographer of the Medical Education and Health Manpower Development project under DGHS, to appear before ACC on Thursday. There are similar allegations against her, too.

Rubina is proprietor of Rahman Trade International, a contracting firm which used to supply surgical equipment to government hospitals and institutions.

So far, ACC has found that Abzal bought a house in Sydney, Australia spending more than US$ 200,000, and owns four five-storey buildings and a plot in the capital's Uttara, an SUV and several plots and houses in different districts including Dhaka and Faridpur.

The couple in their income tax return documents showed they have Tk 12 crore worth of wealth.

Meanwhile, ACC yesterday quizzed Dr Md Anisur Rahman, an assistant director of DGHS, for about five hours over allegations of amassing wealth beyond the known sources of income.

The ACC deputy director, who is also a member of ACC's enquiry team, said Anisur allegedly made a fortune through irregularities in DGHS's tender process.

“A syndicate used to manage the tender process of DGHS. We're now trying to unearth his [Anisur] connection,” the official said.

ACC also asked DGHS Directors Dr Kazi Jahangir Hossain and Prof Dr Abdur Rashid to appear before it yesterday to give statements over the allegations of gathering wealth from unknown sources. But the duo did not appear and sought time from ACC for preparations.

No new date was fixed yet.