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Police have arrested 17 members of an alleged broker ring during raids at two major government hospitals in Kishoreganj.
The operation was conducted throughout Tuesday at Kishoreganj 250-bed General Hospital and Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College and Hospital. Police initially detained 32 people and, after verification, arrested 17 for alleged involvement in the broker network.
Kishoreganj Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mizanur Rahman disclosed the information at a press briefing at Kishoreganj Sadar Model Police Station on Tuesday evening.
He said police had received intelligence that a broker network had been operating around the government hospitals for a long time. Investigators monitored the group and prepared a list of suspected members before launching the coordinated operation with the Detective Branch (DB).
According to police, the suspects targeted vulnerable patients arriving from rural areas for treatment. They allegedly lured patients and their relatives with promises of better treatment, faster diagnostic tests or lower costs, before taking them to private clinics and diagnostic centres outside the government hospitals.
Police said the practice caused harassment and forced many patients to spend more than necessary on treatment.
The SP warned that the crackdown on hospital broker networks would continue, stressing that such activities would not be tolerated on the premises of government hospitals.