New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) The CBI is trying to locate a “grey diary” understood to be containing meticulous records of monetary transactions in its quest to unravel a bribery racket allegedly orchestrated by Manish Rawat, a Safdarjung Hospital neurosurgeon arrested recently.
Officials said the doctor has been booked for allegedly compelling patients to procure surgical equipment from a Jangpura shop at inflated prices in exchange for expedited surgery dates.
The probe agency stumbled upon portions from the “grey diary” during searches which shed light on the racket spearheaded by Rawat in cahoots with his cohorts and the proprietor of the surgical equipment emporium, Deepak Khattar.
The diary, purportedly belonging to Khattar, contains records of payments made against inflated invoices and commissions, with details of the victims yet to be unearthed.
WhatsApp exchanges allude to the existence of another grey diary, harbouring information on additional victims who were purportedly coerced into paying exorbitant prices for expedited surgery dates, which the agency is trying to locate, the officials said.
Further scrutiny of WhatsApp exchanges retrieved from the mobile phones of the accused has thus far exposed 26 victims, they said.
According to the CBI officials, the chats also showed details of a 10 per cent commission levied on the inflated sum, among other nefarious financial transactions.
Following the arrest of Rawat and four of his associates, including Khattar, proprietor of Kanishka Surgical in New Delhi, as well as intermediaries Avnesh Patel, Manish Sharma, and Kuldeep on March 30, the CBI has been in communication with four of the 26 victims whose details were retrieved from the mobile phones of the accused, while the process of recording statements from others is ongoing, the officials stated.
The CBI’s investigation has reportedly unveiled that bills were being generated in the name of “Simran Surgical”, with Khattar purportedly orchestrating the entire business operation as a facade for the establishment.
According to the CBI’s findings, Rawat is accused of allegedly colluding with his accomplices to extort payments from patients for medical consultations and surgical procedures in flagrant violation of the hospital’s established protocols.
Sources allege that Patel, acting on behalf of Rawat, would contact patients’ relatives and instruct them to procure the requisite surgical instruments from Khattar’s emporium in Jangpura to secure expedited surgery appointments.
He would then demand payment either in cash to Sharma or Kuldeep, employees of Khattar, or through online transfers to mobile numbers linked to the bank accounts of the employees, as per the CBI.
Patel would then deliver the received funds from the patients’ attendants to Rawat in cash or transfer them to other accounts as directed by the surgeon after collecting them from Sharma, Kuldeep, or Khattar, the FIR alleged.
A CBI spokesperson divulged that Rawat is accused of coercing patients into paying exorbitant prices for surgical instruments, far surpassing their actual value. The emporium owner would purportedly share with the accused surgeon the profits from the overbilling.
The investigation has further uncovered Rawat’s alleged directives to victims to deposit bribes ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.15 lakh in a middleman’s bank account.
The agency has also accused Rawat of siphoning off the excess money generated by the sale of overpriced surgical equipment, enriching himself and his co-conspirators through bribes, and laundering their ill-gotten gains through various companies controlled by Ganesh Chandra, a private individual in Bareilly. PTI ABS IJT
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