The Mirpur branch of Regent Hospital was sealed off on Wednesday, a day after its Uttara branch and head office was sealed off.

A Rapid Action Battalion team raided the branch and sealed it off as the hospital authorities had been found accused of forging COVID-19 certificates, said RAB 4 deputy director Major Rakibul Hasan.

The initiative was taken as Directorate General of Health Service on Tuesday instructed to immediately shutdown Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital.

A case was filed on Tuesday night against 17 officials and staff of the hospital, including its chairman Mohammad Shahed, in connection with forging several thousand COVID-19 certificates and charging patients fees for free tests.

Earlier on Monday, the RAB raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital in Dhaka. They found that it forged over 6,000 COVID-19 certificates and embezzled over Tk 3 crore in the name of providing COVID-19 testing facilities and treatments.

A mobile court on Tuesday night, led by executive magistrate Sarwoer Alam, raided the Regent Group head office and seized some fake certificates, many unauthorised rapid testing kits, and an unregistered jeep.

Sarwoer told reporters in a briefing that certificates were forged at the head office in Uttara sector 12 and then sold at Tk 3,500.

Most of the fake certificates showed negative results, said a RAB official.