CBI launched raids at AIIMS Rishikesh and Bhubaneshwar for alleged financial scams

The CBI officials had launched similar raids at the hospital in February last year, during which five officials from the AIIMS were booked along with three others.

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand): A seven-member Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team launched raids at Rishikesh AIIMS based on allegations of scams in recruitment and purchases on Friday morning. Sources said that the CBI officials are currently questioning medical officers ere, while the documents with the hospital's records are also being scrutinized.

The CBI officials had launched similar raids at the hospital in February last year, during which five officials from the AIIMS were booked along with three others. These raids went on for four days between February 3 to February 7, followed by another enquiry on April 22.

The investigation is based on the claims that the AIIMS authorities have pulled off a scam worth Rs 2.41 crores during the purchase of sweeping machines made during 2017-18. The probing authorities had procured evidence that the machines were being offered at lower rates than the purchase, but the expenditure shown by the hospital authorities had some major discrepancies. Additionally, there are also allegations of around Rs 2 crore being embezzled in a tender issued for setting up of a medical store.

The officials arrested during the last year's raids include one of the then Additional Professor, the then Assistant Professor, the then Administrative Officer, the then Accounts Officer of AIIMS Rishikesh, along with the owner of a private firm based in New Delhi. Sources claim that the freshly launched raids are also a part of the investigation of the same scam.

Meanwhile, an eight-member unit of the central agency carried out raids at a pharmacy store on the premises of AIIMS Bhubaneshwar. The raid was conducted as part of an operation launched following allegation of irregularities in the tender granting process of the pharmacy store.

The CBI launched a similar raid a day earlier on Wednesday at several locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in connection with alleged corruption involving the Safdurjung Hospital doctors and middlemen. The accused Neurosurgery Department doctor has been identified as Manish Rawat, who was arrested from the operation theatre in the early hours of Thursday.