JKG Chairman Dr Sabrina faces ‘dual voter’ charges

The Election Commission has filed a case against Dr Sabrina Sharmin, also known as Sabrina Arif Chaudhury, who is currently behind bars over the JKG Healthcare fake test scam, over owning multiple national ID cards for dual voting.

Police escort Dr Sabrina A Chaudhury to Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court for the hearing in a case involving JKG Health Care over fake COVID-19 test reports on Thursday, Aug 20, 2020. Police escort Dr Sabrina A Chaudhury to Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court for the hearing in a case involving JKG Health Care over fake COVID-19 test reports on Thursday, Aug 20, 2020.

Momin Mia, an election officer of Gulshan area, filed the case with Badda Police Station.

“Sabrina has committed a crime by becoming a ‘dual voter’ by giving false information and owning multiple national ID cards. The case refers to the information of two of her NIDs,” Momin Mia told bdnews24.com

The case has been filed under sections 14 and 15 of the National Identity Registration Act, 2010. Section 14 stipulates a maximum of one-year jail term and a fine of Tk 20,000 for providing false information.

Section 15 has provision for the same penalties if the allegation of owning multiple national ID cards is proven.

A doctor at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases since 2015, Dr Sabrina is the wife of JKG’s Chief Executive Ariful Haque Chaudhury.

Both of them were arrested over JKG’s fake test scam in June. The court procedures are already underway.

The health ministry temporarily removed Dr Sabrina from duty over violating the rules by becoming the chairman of JKG Healthcare while being a government servant.

Government documents mention her as Sabrina Sharmin Hussain. She took part in different programmes by using “Sabrina Arif” as her name. On the other hand, her workplace nameplate also mentioned her as Dr Sabrina Arif.

The spellings of her name in the NIDs were different, the Election Commission said. According to case details, the name “Sabrina Sharmin Hossain” is mentioned on both the cards, however, the Bengali spellings of the names are different.

Her father’s name is identical in both ID cards but her mother’s name is Kishoar Jasmine on one card and Jasmine Hussain on the other. Similarly, her husband’s name is RH Haque on one card and Ariful Chaudhury on the other.

Sabrina’s birth year is different on the cards -- 1978 and 1983. Her permanent and current address on one card is Mohammadpur PC Culture Housing and Badda’s Anwara Landmark on the other. She is a doctor on one and a government official on the other.

According to the Election Commission’s database, Sabrina became a voter of Mohammadpur in the updates of 2009 and her second NID was registered on the list of 2016.

She applied for registering her biometric information and fingerprint to become a voter at the Agargaon NID wing on Jan 7, 2016. The Gulshan office was asked to verify the information and she visited the Gulshan election office on Apr 27.

The then election officer in the report recommended her to be a voter.

The Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC found two NID cards on Dr Sabrina and drew the attention of the Health Ministry to the issue.

NID wing Director General Brig Gen Md Saidul Islam said both of her NIDs were already blocked and five-member committee was formed to investigate the matter.