The Health Ministry has made Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (SSMCH) Director Uttam Kumar Barua and Institute of Public Health (IPH) Director Dr Muhammad Abdur Rahim officers on special duty (OSD).

Both of them have also been attached to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), according to a gazette notification issued by the Health Services Division on Tuesday.

Of the duo, the IPH director has been replaced by Dr Tanvir Ahmed Chowdhury, who was previously stationed at the DGHS as an OSD.

SSMCH Deputy Director Dr AKM Murshed will serve as the hospital’s acting director until someone is appointed for the post, the notification said.

The trio will have to take over their new roles in three working days.

On October 29, a departmental case was filed against Uttam, along with Soumitra Sarker, associate professor of the neurosurgery department, and Ratan Das Gupta, associate professor of nephrology department of the hospital over alleged irregularities in the procurement of medical equipment.

Previously, in March, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against two people including Prof Uttam on charges of misappropriating around Tk6 crore from the hospital.

Meanwhile on October 28, the IPH Director Rahim drew flak from different quarters for issuing a notice making Islamic dress code mandatory for Muslim employees during office hours.

However, he cancelled the notice the next day and apologized for that.

Deshsangbad/dt/fh/mmh