Ahmedabad: The number of arrests in connection with the death of two Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana beneficiaries following botched up angioplasty procedures at a private hospital in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city reached eight after a director of the facility was held, a police official said on Saturday.
Seven persons underwent angioplasty, a procedure that widens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart, at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital on November 11, following which two of them died, prompting Vastrapur police to register three FIRs the next day.
The probe showed the hospital organised free check-up camps in villages to convince PMJAY cardholders to undergo angioplasty despite no medical necessity. They were shown in the “emergency” category to expedite government approval, after which the hospital claimed payments under the Central scheme.
Based on a tip off, Rajshree Kothari, one of the directors of Khyati Multispeciality Hospital, was held by a Crime Branch team when she and her husband Dr Pradip Kothari were on their way to Bhilwara from Kota in Rajasthan, a police release said.
Soon after an FIR was registered on November 12, the Kothari couple went to Rajasthan, where they lived in Udaipur for five days before staying in Bhilwara for 10 days and then moving to Kota, as per the release. Pradeep Kothari is not an accused in the case, police added.
“Rajshree Kothari and her husband partnered with Sanjay Patolia to start Khyati Multispeciality hospital. The couple has 3.61 per cent stake. She joined as a director on September 22, 2021,” the Crime Branch said.
Her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by an Ahmedabad court earlier this month. A police official said the hospital earned Rs 11 crore from PMJAY last year, with 70 per cent of the amount coming from such claims. Those arrested so far in the case are visiting cardiologist Dr Prashant Vazirani, hospital CEO Rahul Jain, marketing director Chirag Rajput, marketing executive Milind Patel and his two assistants Pankil Patel and Pratik Bhatt.
The seventh person to be arrested in the case was Sanjay Patolia. While Rajshree Kothari was the eighth accused to be arrested in the case, the ninth person named in the case is hospital chairman Kartik Patel, who is on the run, police said.
They have been accused of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, forgery and criminal conspiracy to obtain financial benefits under the PMJAY scheme.
