3-member SIT to probe alleged Covid-19 testing scam by private lab: Capt - Hindustan Times
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3-member SIT to probe alleged Covid-19 testing scam by private lab: Capt

Hindustan Times, Chandigarh | By, Chandigarh
Jul 12, 2020 10:38 PM IST

Punjab chief minister announced the probe team during his #AskCaptain Facebook Live session.

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged Covid-19 testing scam by Tuli Diagnostic Centre, a private lab in Amritsar, while warning that his government would not allow private hospitals or laboratories to earn profit from this unprecedented crisis.

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.(HT File)
Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.(HT File)

The vigilance bureau had on June 24 booked five doctors, including those from the private lab, and owner of a private hospital on the charges of murder bid, criminal conspiracy and corruption for giving fabricated and false Covid-19 test reports allegedly to fleece suspected patients.

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During his #AskCaptain Facebook Live session, the CM said he had received a complaint against the said private lab and had asked the vigilance bureau to look into the matter, but when initial investigation showed that there was no involvement of any state government department or officer, the case was transferred to the Punjab Police.

The SIT tasked with the probe is headed by Amritsar police commissioner, himself a doctor, with civil surgeon as a member, said the CM, adding that he has ordered the SIT to conduct a thorough investigation and submit its findings soon, so that suitable action can be taken.

A spokesperson of the CMO later said Amarinder had taken strong exception to SAD leader Bikram Majithia’s attempts to politicise the “simple jurisdictional decision” of transferring the probe to the district police. Apart from the fact that the vigilance bureau had, prima facie, not found any complicity of government department/official in the case, Tuli lab had moved the court challenging the bureau’s jurisdiction, he said.

“Rather than raising such nonsensical issues and weakening the morale of the Punjab Police, Majitha should invest his time and energy in pressurising the Akalis’ political masters in Delhi to put a stop on CBI interference in the Punjab Police investigation in the Bargari and other sacrilege cases, and the subsequent policing firing incidents,” said Amarinder.

When asked during the FB Live if the recent appointment of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as party president by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rebels was a Congress gameplan, the CM said that what happens in the Akali party “is not our job.”

“They keep fighting…history shows that they keep getting divided. There is nothing new in it. At one point of time there were seven Akali Dals. The Akali party is like a rubber band, it keeps expanding and co-added,” he added.

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