On July 12, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested three individuals, including a senior official of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly demanding a Rs 50 lakh bribe from a private hospital to prevent its removal from a government empanelment list. The accused have been identified as CGHS Additional Director Ajay Kumar, Office Superintendent Lavesh Solanki, and their associate Raees Ahmad.
The arrests followed a complaint filed by the Director of Operations of a private hospital group operating multiple medical facilities in the region. According to the complaint, the CGHS conducted a surprise inspection of two of its hospitals on July 8. Subsequently, both hospitals received notices highlighting minor irregularities, allegedly used as leverage to extort money.
The officials reportedly demanded Rs 50 lakh in exchange for ensuring the hospitals remained on the CGHS empanelled list. After negotiations, the accused agreed to accept an initial instalment of Rs 5 lakh. The CBI apprehended the additional director while accepting this amount on July 12. However, the CBI laid a trap and caught the two public officials and a private individual red-handed while accepting the bribe. Following the arrests, raids were conducted at their residential premises.
How the case unfolded
The case centres around Jain Medicare Hospital, owned by Dr. Ashish Jain, an ophthalmologist based in Noida, and managed by Vishal Salonia. Salonia also oversees two other facilities, Highfield Speciality Hospital in Pepla Idrishpur on Bhola Road and JMC Medicity Speciality Hospital on Rohta Road.
According to Salonia, the CGHS office, located in the Surajkund-based health building where the accused were posted, conducted surprise inspections at both JMC Medicity and Highfield Speciality Hospital on July 8. Following the visits, the CGHS panel issued formal suspension notices citing various irregularities.
Shortly after, a demand of Rs 50 lakh was made to retain the hospitals’ empanelment status. Salonia approached Additional Director Ajay Kumar and Office Superintendent Lavesh Solanki at the CGHS office for clarification, but was met with threats. He was warned that failure to pay the bribe would not only lead to JMC Medicity’s removal from the CGHS list, but Highfield Speciality Hospital would face the same fate.
Salonia secretly recorded the conversation and reported the matter to the CBI’s Delhi office. Acting on his complaint, a CBI team, accompanied by Salonia, conducted a reconnaissance of the CGHS office. After gathering sufficient evidence, a case was registered against Ajay Kumar and Lavesh Solanki under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The investigation revealed that the accused used their personal associate, Raees Ahmed, to collect the bribe on their behalf. Eventually, all three, Kumar, Solanki, and Ahmed, were caught red-handed and arrested by the CBI.
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