Health Ministry Under Secretary held for seeking Rs 1.5 lakh bribe
New Delhi: In a massive crackdown against corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Union Health Ministry's Under Secretary for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh in exchange for issuing a Statement of Need to a doctor who lives in the US.
The CBI has arrested an Under Secretary in the Union Health Ministry for allegedly seeking a bribe for issuing a Statement of Need to a medical professional, officials said Saturday.
The Statement of Need is issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Indian doctors to enable them to pursue higher medical studies in the US.
Also Read:Mansa Doctor's private assistant held for demanding Rs 3500 bribe, probe ordered
The individual wanted the Statement of Need for official purposes. A senior CBI official said that they got a complaint in this regard on April 4 from one Ram Gulam, a resident of Ballabhgarh in Faridabad.
Gulam alleged that his friend Yashpal Chokker’s son Aditya Chokker, who lives in the US, had applied for a Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health.
The agency arrested the accused Under Secretary on the complaint of an Indian doctor who stays in the US. He had applied for a Statement of Need with the Health ministry.
Kumar allegedly demanded Rs 1.5 lakh for giving the original hard copy of the Statement, they said.
"The complainant has enclosed the printout of the said certificate, which was sent by said Under Secretary to his friend through email," CBI Spokesperson said.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign under the zero-tolerance policy against corruption adopted by the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government, had arrested a private assistant of a doctor posted at Civil Hospital Mansa for demanding a bribe of Rs 3500. Disclosing this, a spokesperson of the VB said the accused had been arrested after investigating an online complaint made by Hardeep Singh, a resident of Mansa City, on the Chief Minister's Anti-Corruption Action Line.
