Ahmedabad: A local court has sent Rajshree Kothari, the director of Khyati Hospital, to ten days of police remand in the angioplasty deaths case at the health institute during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kothari was produced in the Ahmedabad Gram Court on Sunday when the Crime Branch demanded a remand, which was accepted by the court, and the remand was approved till December 25. Earlier, she had applied for anticipatory bail in the Ahmedabad Gram Sessions Court, which was rejected as the court dismissed her application.
Giving details about the case, the government lawyer said that the Khyati Hospital administration was accused of conducting botched-up and unnecessary surgeries to complete their target of 10 operations a day under PM-JAY. “At least 112 people have died in the hospital so far. A total of six people died after angioplasty, out of which four cases are being investigated based on a plea,” he said.
Kothari's lawyer, while presenting the case, pleaded her innocence, saying she had nothing to do with this scam. “My client has been falsely implicated and is ready to comply with all the conditions if the court grants bail,” he said. However, the court rejected her anticipatory bail application.
Kothari is the director of Khyati Hospital and has a 3.61 per cent stake in the hospital. After the scam came to light, she allegedly absconded to evade arrest but was arrested in Rajasthan on Saturday after nearly 32 days.
More About The Khyati Hospital Case
On November 11, at least 19 people from Borisana village of Kadi were brought to the Khyati Multi Speciality Hospital. Seven of them underwent angioplasty, but two of them died, triggering controversy with families saying that the administrators and doctors of the hospital performed wrong operations on people to take advantage of the PM-JAY scheme even though they did not need the operation.
After the complaint was registered in this matter, Dr Prashant Vajrani, who performed the operations on all the people, was arrested. After his remand was completed, he was sent to judicial custody. Later, the Crime Branch arrested eight accused, including Kothari, while the accused Kartik Patel is still absconding, and an investigation is underway to find him.
Other accused arrested in the Khyati Hospital scandal case are Chirag Hirasingh Rajput, Milind Kanubhai Patel, Rahul Rajendra Kumar Jain, Symbol Yogeshbhai Bhatt, Pankil Hasmukhbhai Patel and Dr Sanjay Patoliya.
