Panipat medical officer caught red-handed in Rs 2.5 lakh bribery case
Bribery Case
Panipat: A medical officer was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh for referring patients to a private hospital. The arrest took place at a dhaba in Murthal, where the money was reportedly handed over in exchange for patient referrals.
The accused was serving as a medical officer at a polyclinic under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) in Sewah, Panipat. Investigators alleged that the payment was linked to referring patients from the government-run facility to a specific private hospital. Following his arrest, the accused was produced before a court in Panchkula on Saturday, which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
According to The Tribune, the case was registered after a complaint was filed by Squadron Leader (retd) Dr Sudeep Sangwan, Director of Ayushmanbhava Hospital. In his complaint to the ACB, CBI Chandigarh, he alleged the doctor had been demanding Rs 3.5 lakh per month in return for consistently referring patients to his hospital.
A similar case of bribery was reported by Medical Dialogues team earlier, in which a senior doctor at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, was detained by the Odisha Vigilance team after officials reportedly recovered Rs 2.63 lakh in unaccounted cash from his possession. The doctor was allegedly involved in collecting bribes from bidders competing to supply medical instruments to the hepatology department, vigilance officials told The Daily.
The operation was launched after receiving inputs indicating irregularities in the departmental procurement process. Acting on the information, officials intercepted the doctor while he was travelling on a two-wheeler near Kathagolasahi Medical Road and seized the cash.
