The vigilance bureau (VB) on Tuesday nabbed a woman coordinator in the civil surgeon’s office here for demanding a monthly bribe of Rs 5,000 from a local multi-specialty hospital.
The VB arrested the coordinator after registering a case against her and civil surgeon Dr Amita Goyal.
VB inspector Manjit Singh said, “We nabbed the coordinator from her office when she was accepting money from complainant Dr Inderjit Kaur. The civil surgeon could not be arrested as she was not in her office.”
Dr Kaur of Noor Multi-specialty hospital had alleged that coordinator Pardeep Gupta had demanded the money from her after checking the ultrasound centre at her hospital.
Dr Kaur said, “We had even met the civil surgeon, who said the practice of monthly payment prevailed everywhere and we should pay at least Rs 5,000 every month.”
The coordinator said, “I have been working here for the past year and a half. The civil surgeon, after joining here recently, pressed me to collect the amount from scan centres. I did not have any share in this.”
Singh said, “The accused has admitted that the civil surgeon had asked her to collect Rs 5,000 from hospitals having ultrasound facilities and Rs 7,000 from those exclusively running scan centres.”
{{/usCountry}}Singh said, “The accused has admitted that the civil surgeon had asked her to collect Rs 5,000 from hospitals having ultrasound facilities and Rs 7,000 from those exclusively running scan centres.”
{{/usCountry}}“We nabbed her in the presence of witnesses -- excise and taxation officer SP Pahuja, Tapa tehsil welfare officer Pardeep Kumar and excise and taxation junior assistant Mohinder Kaur,” Singh said.
Despite repeated attempts, civil surgeon Dr Amita Goyal was not available for comment.
When contacted, health minister Surjit Kumar Jyani said, “We cannot rely on the accusations of the complainant and the coordinator. Let me first have the civil surgeon’s version.” When asked about the absence of the civil surgeon at the time of the VB raid and afterwards, Jyani said, “I cannot say anything right now. When we get something in writing, we will act on it.”