New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) uncovered a major bribery racket at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in Delhi. According to sources familiar with the investigation, doctors and various other employees of the government hospital were allegedly involved in collecting bribes from both patients and suppliers of medical equipment.
The agency arrested nine persons, comprising doctors, hospital clerks, private middlemen, and medical equipment suppliers. Following extensive searches at approximately 15 locations, including the hospital on Wednesday, people mentioned above said, as per a report of Hindustan Times.
In its first information report (FIR) filed on Tuesday, the federal agency has implicated several individuals associated with RML Hospital, including a professor and an assistant professor from the cardiology department, a senior technical in-charge, a nurse, and two clerks.
Additionally, the FIR names several private medical equipment supplier companies, along with unspecified government servants.
This is the second incident of bribery occured, in March last year when the CBI arrested Dr. Manish Rawat, a neurosurgeon at Safdarjung Hospital, along with four associates, for allegedly coercing patients into purchasing surgical equipment at inflated prices from a specific establishment, as per HT.
Among those implicated in the RML bribery case by the CBI are Dr. Parvathgouda and Dr. Ajay Raj from the cardiology department, Rajnish Kumar from the Cath Lab, nurse Shalu Shama, and clerks Bhuwal Jaiswal and Sanjay Kumar Gupta. Additionally, five private individuals representing four medical equipment companies have also been named as accused.
All have been charged with criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“Information has been received through a reliable source that several doctors and the employees of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, have been indulging in corrupt practices and collecting bribes from the patients either directly or indirectly through the medical/supplier representatives of the companies supplying different equipment required for diagnosis and treatment of various patients,” states the CBI FIR, reports HT.
The agency has detailed instances where Dr. Parvathgouda and Dr. Raj allegedly demanded and accepted bribes from private suppliers, identified as Naresh Nagpal, Abrar Ahmed, Akarshan Gulati, Monika Sinha, and Bharat Singh Dalal. These bribes were purportedly exchanged for various reasons, including allowing the use of medical equipment supplied by them or promoting their equipment within RML Hospital.
About Bhuwal Jaiswal, the clerk, and nurse Shalu Sharma, the CBI has alleged they are also involved in corrupt and illegal activities and “are in habit of demanding undue advantage from patients for facilitating appointments, admission, and investigation in the hospital,” according to the FIR.
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