New Delhi:
A corruption racket has been uncovered by the Central Bureau of Investigation at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital. The central probe agency has arrested nine people, including two doctors and two professors, at one of the busiest hospitals in the national capital.
The CBI has alleged that the racket of bribery was running under the guise of admitting patients to the hospital, issuing medical test certificates and extorting money from patients for treatments. The probe agency said the accused took bribes in cash and digital payments.
Allegations include accepting money from companies supplying medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies. The CBI conducted raids at 15 locations linked with doctors and dealers involved in medical equipment supplies.
Dr Parvathgouda, an Assistant Professor in the Cardiology Department at RML Hospital was caught red-handed by the CBI team while taking a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh which he received as a UPI payment.
A woman at the hospital has alleged that her husband was asked to pay a bribe of Rs 20,000 for the delivery of her child and when she refused, she alleged that they threatened her to stop the delivery.
CBI received information that several doctors and staff at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital were involved in corruption using various methods such as – Supplying medical equipment or promoting doctors and receiving money from private companies in return.
The CBI alleged that they extorted money from poor patients in the name of their treatment through clerks.
Rajneesh Kumar, a senior technical engineer in the Cath Lab at RML Hospital, has been arrested. The First Information Report (FIR) also includes a professor in the Cardiology Department, Dr Ajay Raj, along with a nurse, Shalu Sharma and two clerks – Bhuvan Jaiswal and Sanjay Kumar Gupta, who work at the hospital, and five people working for different equipment supply companies.
They have been arrested under Prevention of Corruption and Criminal Conspiracy charges. Besides the nine arrests, the CBI has filed FIRs against 16 people and initiated an investigation.