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Ahmedabad crime branch busts Ayushman Card fraud linked to Khyati Hospital
The Ahmedabad crime branch had begun the investigation after two deaths at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital last month
The Ahmedabad crime branch has arrested six individuals in connection with an Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) card fraud network, expanding their investigation that began after two deaths at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital last month.
The deaths occurred after angioplasty procedures on November 12, following a medical camp at Borisana village. Three separate cases were registered at Vastrapur Police Station. Considering the seriousness of the incidents, the commissioner of police, Ahmedabad City, ordered that the investigations of all three cases be transferred to the Ahmedabad City Crime Branch.
“The Crime Branch, in collaboration with a team of doctors appointed by the government, conducted a detailed inquiry at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital. Details were obtained about patients who attended a health camp organized by the hospital at Borisana (Kadi) on November 10. During questioning, Mehul Patel, an employee managing the PMJAY desk revealed that Kartik Patel had directed Chirag Rajput to collaborate with Nimesh Dodiya for illegally creating Ayushman Bharat cards, charging ₹1,500- ₹2,000 per card. Out of this Nimesh Dodiya earned ₹1,000 per card,” said a crime branch official.
Further investigation revealed that Nimesh Dodiya operated various online portals to advertise and create such cards. He also connected with different individuals through WhatsApp and Telegram groups for this purpose. Through these networks, he came in contact with individuals including Mohammad Fazal (Ahmedabad), Asfaque (Ahmedabad), Narendra Singh Gohil (Bhavnagar), Imtiyaz (Bhavnagar), and Imran (Surat), who were also involved in similar fraudulent activities. These six individuals including Dodiya were arrested by the crime branch today.
These groups used government portal technical vulnerabilities to alter source codes and create approximately 1,200–1,500 fake Ayushman Bharat cards, said officials.
Nikhil Parekh, an employee of Enser Communication Pvt. Ltd, which holds a government contract for Ayushman Bharat card creation, was found to have illegally provided login credentials to the accused for monetary compensation of ₹8,000– ₹10,000 per month, as per police sources. Parekh is yet to be arrested in the card fraud scam.
While Chirag Patel, already a co-accused in the PM-JAY card fraud case has already been arrested in the case of deaths of two patients, hospital director Kartik Patel is absconding.
In connection with multiple deaths of patients where PM-JAY scheme was misused, the crime branch has arrested eight persons so far in three cases including Dr Sanjay Patoliya, founder director of the hospital, CEO Rahul Jain, Chirag Rajput, Milind Patel, Pankaj Patel, Pratik Bhatt, and cardiologist Dr. Prashant Vazirani. Apart from Kartik Patel, Rajshree Kothari also remains at large.
“Khyati Hospital made ₹11 crore in the last one and a half years. Out of this money, 70% came from patients who used the government’s PM-JAY scheme, while 30% came from patients referred by other doctors and hospitals,” said a crime police official. This means that most of the hospital’s business relied heavily on PMJAY patients, he added.
The case came to light when two patients - Nagarbhai Senma (59) and Mahesh Barot (45) - died following angioplasty procedures at the hospital in November. The deaths occurred after a free medical camp in Borisana village, Mehsana district, where 19 villagers were brought for angiography procedures, allegedly to exploit the PMJAY scheme which provides health insurance coverage up to ₹5 lakh, said officials.
Of the nineteen villagers brought from the medical camp, twelve underwent angiography procedures at Khyati Hospital. Seven of these patients were then subjected to angioplasty, which resulted in the deaths of two patients - Senma and Barot on November, said an official.
