Nine people, including two cardiologists from Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in Delhi, have been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on several charges, including taking money from medical equipment suppliers, accepting bribes from patients in exchange for fixing appointments with doctors and creating fake medical certificates.
The CBI has also arrested four hospital employees, including a nurse. Two of them allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 from a man, threatening to halt treatment for his pregnant wife, as per the FIR, Indian Express reported.
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This action was followed by the CBI receiving information from a source about questionable dealings at RML Hospital. Doctors and staff were allegedly taking bribes from patients and suppliers. The FIR names 15 people, including Dr Parvathgouda and Dr Ajay Raj from the Cardiology Department, senior technician Rajnish Kumar, clerks Bhuwal Jaiswal and Sanjay Kumar Gupta, and nurse Shalu Sharma.
According to the FIR filed on May 7, Dr Parvathgouda reportedly demanded bribes from Naresh Nagpal of Nagpal Technologies Pvt Ltd on May 2, also requesting old dues to be cleared. In another incident, Dr Parvathgouda allegedly demanded a bribe from Abrar Ahmed, with Rs 19.5 lakh transferred to Dr Parvathgouda’s father’s account on March 26.
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Dr Ajay Raj is accused of asking Bharat Singh Dalal from M/s Bharati Medical Technology suppliers to pay Rs 25,000 and Rs 35,000 in two installments. Rajnish Kumar allegedly demanded Rs 1 lakh from Ahmed for promoting his equipment among patients on March 30.
“A source informed that one Naresh Nagpal, owner of Nagpal Technologies Pvt Ltd, supplies equipment used for different medical procedures to be performed on patients. In lieu of using such instruments, Dr. Parvathgouda regularly demands and accepts bribes from Nagpal… On May 2, he demanded a bribe from Nagpal and also asked him to clear the previous month’s dues of the bribes. (Nagpal) assured him that the bribe he demanded would be delivered by him on May 7 at RML hospital… There is a likelihood that Nagpal may deliver the bribe money of around Rs 2.40 lakh at RML to Dr. Parvathgouda on May 7,” the FIR, filed on May 7, stated.
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“The source has further informed that on March 26, Dr Parvathgouda demanded a bribe from one Abrar Ahmed for promoting medical equipment supplied by him. An amount of Rs 19.5 lakh was transferred by Ahmed from his account to that of Dr Parvathgouda’s father on March 26. Dr Parvathgouda contacted Ahmed and asked him to pay the entire pending bribe amount that he had demanded as he would be leaving for Europe on a personal tour,” the FIR added, IE reported.
Nagpal, Ahmed, and Dalal were among those arrested.
According to the FIR, the CBI received information that on January 24, Krishan Kumar contacted Gupta to extend his medical rest certificate. Gupta allegedly demanded Rs 700 in his UPI-linked account.
A special court has sent the accused to CBI custody until May 14.
This is the second major operation against a nexus between doctors and medical suppliers. Last year, the CBI arrested Safdarjung Hospital neurosurgeon Manish Rawat for allegedly accepting bribes from medical suppliers.
