Covid certificate fraud ring busted in Rajshahi, 3 held
They would usually target outbound people who had given samples for urgent Covid tests designed to deliver results within 2-3 days
A team of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) arrested three members of an alleged Covid-19 certificate scam gang on Thursday.
The detainees are Tarek Ahsan, and his associates Rafiqul Islam and Shamsunnahar Shikha. Two more members of the gang are at large.
"Acting on a tip-off, a Detective Branch (DB) team of RMP conducted a drive in Hatemkha Kalabagan area under Boalia thana and arrested three in connection to the scam," said DB Deputy Commissioner Arefin Jewel.
"The process of filing a case in this regard is underway with Boalia police station," he added while briefing at a press conference at the DB office in Dhaka today.
According to police, the ring was formed around the district civil surgeon's office. They would usually target outbound people who had given samples for urgent Covid tests designed to deliver results within 2-3 days.
During the interrogation, the detainees admitted that the group would call the targeted people to tell them that they have been diagnosed with Covid-19, regardless of their actual test report. They will then offer to provide the victims with negative reports in exchange for Tk3,000-Tk15,000.