A Dhaka court Sunday granted bail to Mizanur Rahman, Managing Director (MD) of Rid Pharmaceuticals Limited and his wife Sheuli Rahman, after the couple sought bail to the court in a case filed against them for the deaths of 28 children in 2009. Earlier, they surrendered to the court.Judge M Atoar Rahman of the Drug Court of Dhaka passed the order after they appeared before it following an order of the High Court Division.
On March 8, the High Court directed five officials of Rid Pharmaceuticals Limited, who were earlier, acquitted in a case filed for manufacturing toxic paracetamol syrup, to surrender to the trial court within seven days.
The Government filed the appeal in January with the High Court seeking adequate sentence for the accused as the subordinate court’s punishment of the offence was not sufficient.
It has been determined that from June to August in 2009, 28 children across the country died of renal failures caused by taking the paracetamol syrup and suspension allegedly manufactured by Rid Pharmaceuticals.
On July 22, 2009, the Drug Administration sealed off Rid's factory in BSCIC area of Brahmanbaria following wide media coverage of the children's death, and findings of Dhaka Shishu Hospital physician Prof Mohammad Hanif that Rid Pharma's Temset had toxic substance.
On November 28 last year, Judge M Atoar Rahman of the Drug Court of Dhaka acquitted all the five officials as the prosecution failed to prove the charges brought against the accused.
Negligence, inefficiency and incompetence of the Drug Administration in dealing with the case led to the acquittal of all the accused, the judge observed, in his verdict. – Special Correspondent
