Stent Bribery Case Exposed at RML Hospital, Two Senior Cardiologists Arrested by CBI
The two cardiologists have now been sent to CBI custody
New Delhi: Two senior cardiologists at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, along with nine other persons were arrested on Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly demanding and accepting bribes from medical equipment suppliers to use their products and stents.
One of the arrested cardiologists has been identified as Professor Dr Ajay Raj, Professor of Cardiology, ABVIMS and RML hospital while the other is Assistant Professor, Dr. Parvatagouda Channappagouda. They allegedly formed a nexus with the medical equipment supplier firms and promoted their products for monetary gains.
Busting the bribery racket, CBI also nabbed the medical equipment supplier Naresh Nagpal of Nagpal Technologies who paid Rs 2.48 lakh to Parvatagouda for promoting the sale of medical equipment, mainly, Bharat Singh Dalal of Bharti Medical Technologies who bribed Raj using UPI twice, and Abrar Ahmed who paid bribes to Cath Lab in charge in the hospital Rajnish Kumar, PTI has reported.
Officials informed that Rajnish Kumar as well as clerks Bhuval Jaiswal, Sanjay Kumar, and Vikas Kumar have also been arrested. The probe agency alleged that Bhuval Jaiswal took bribes for fixing appointments with doctors while Sanjay Kumar took bribes for fake medical certificates.
All arrested accused were produced before a special court which sent them to CBI custody till May 14. At least four private firms based in Delhi and Gurgaon are under CBI scanner, TOI has reported.
Officials informed on Thursday that CBI has arrested two more persons - a medical equipment supplier and a nurse- in connection with the alleged bribery racket. With the arrest of Akarshan Gulati, territory sales manager of Biotroniks, and nurse Shalu Sharma, the total number of arrests in this case stands at 11, ANI has reported.
More than 13 locations in Delhi and other places were subsequently raised and searched by CBI, which seized around Rs 2.5 lakh cash, gold bars, and lockers of the accused. The Bureau has alleged that the scan was being carried out at multiple levels. Until now, the probe is still at an early stage and more arrests are likely to occur soon.
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the CBI laid the trap for Dr. Parvathgouda and arrested him red-handed on Tuesday. During its technical surveillance, CBI found that on May 2, the doctor had demanded a bribe from the owner of Nagpal Technologies, one Naresh Nagpal for being allowed to use medical equipment supplied by him.
Commenting on the matter, an official told the Daily, "Dr Parvathgouda asked Nagpal to clear previous month's dues of bribes because he was leaving for Europe. Nagpal assured him that the amount would be delivered on May 7 at the hospital."
Based on this communication, the CBI registered an FIR under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act besides those related to criminal conspiracy on Tuesday. The FIR by CBI stated, "There is a likelihood that Nagpal may deliver the bribe money of Rs 2.48 lakh to Dr Parvathgouda at RML anytime on May 7."
Accordingly, CBI laid a trap at the RML Hospital, and its sleuths were stationed there in disguise. Already, the movements of Nagpal were being tracked. After he entered the doctor's cabin, CBI conducted a raid during the alleged exchange of bribes. Another doctor, Professor Ajay Raj was detained on Wednesday based on the investigation. Similarly, based on the probe that followed, the CBI summoned other accused as well and arrested them. One of the accused, Abrar Ahmed fled to Jaipur. However, he was tracked down.
"Information has been received through reliable sources that several doctors and employees of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi have been indulging in corrupt practices and collecting bribes from patients either directly or indirectly through representatives of the companies supplying different equipment required for diagnosis and treatment of patients. Sources have informed that Dr Parvathgouda and Dr. Ajay Raj were blatantly demanding and accepting bribes in pursuance of the conspiracy with Naresh Nagpal in lieu of allowing the use of medical devices to be implanted in patients," stated the FIR by CBI.
Dr. Parvathgouda completed his MD from RML in 2016 and later joined the hospital in 2021. On the other hand, Dr. Raj has been working at the hospital since 2011 after he completed his MD from another hospital in 2006, TOI has reported.
Meanwhile, the CBI is in the process of summoning the accused from different firms who were in touch with the doctors. Account transactions are being analyzed to ascertain the number of patients who were given stents in exchange for bribes.
Commenting on this, an officer informed the Daily, "We are also probing if the stents were substandard. The patients are being contacted after checking hospital records. Other doctors are being spoken to. We are also probing the price difference of the stents."
Dr. Ajay Shukla, the director and medical superintendent of the hospital has referred to the arrest of the hospital employees as shocking. He said, "No complaint was filed by any of the patients. We will cooperate with the agency to ensure a fair probe."
Nurse Shalu and clerk Bhuwal Jaiswal had allegedly threatened a man that they would throw his pregnant wife out of the hospital if he did not pay them Rs 20,000.
Shalu had allegedly threatened to stop the treatment of the man's wife and discharge her. The man paid the amount through UPI, according to the FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
It is alleged that Assistant Professor Parvatagouda Channappagouda, arrested on Wednesday, had asked Akarshan Gulati, territory sales manager of Biotroniks to clear his dues. Gulati had connected him to his employee Monika Sinha, claiming he was out of the station. Channappagouda then asked Sinha to pay Rs 36,000 through UPI and the rest in cash.
This is the second major operation against a nexus between doctors and medical suppliers in recent times. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that CBI last year had arrested an associate professor with the Neurosurgery department at the prominent Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi for allegedly being involved in illegal activities and accepting money in exchange for medical advice.
Back then, CBI had accused the associate professor Dr. Rawat of colluding with his accomplices to extract payment from patients for medical consultations and surgical procedures while flouting the hospital's established protocols.
