UP health scam: CBI launches massive search operation

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday conducted searches at some 30 locations across five cities in Uttar Pradesh in a fresh crackdown on the multi-crore-rupee National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.

While CBI sleuths swooped on 25 places in Lucknow alone, five raids were carried out in Varanasi, Meerut, Ballia and Bahraich.

“The raids were essentially on establishments run by drug and medical equipment suppliers, besides some officials of the state medial and health department,” CBI joint director Javeed Ahmad told media persons here.

“Residences and offices of Bahraich chief medical officer Hari Prakash, deputy chief medical officer A.K. Srivastava, Gonda (chief medical officer) S.P. Pathak, and CMO Gorakhpur Kanaihiya Lal were also raided by our teams,” he said.

He, however, refused to divulge anything about recoveries, if any, made from these places during the searches.

According to Ahmad, “Four FIRs have been registered in connection with today’s raids.” No arrests were made.

With eight FIRs having already been lodged in what is described as a Rs.8,000 crore scam, the total number of criminal cases registered so far has reached 12.

The large scale bungling in the centrally funded programme involved not only heavy over-invoicing, but even fake supply of medicines and hospital equipment by fictitious firms as well as huge kickbacks in construction activity undertaken with a view to improving the available health services in government-run primary health centres in rural areas.

The scam turned murky with the murder of two chief medical officers in Lucknow followed by alleged killing of a deputy chief medical officer well inside the premises of the high security Lucknow district jail, where he was held after his arrest.

Driven to the wall, two employees of the family welfare department dealing with the NRHM files had allegedly taken the extreme step of committing suicides while one made a futile bid to kill himself.