Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh): Burhanpur police booked two more persons, including a district president of Congress Backward Class cell and one media person in connection with the case of embezzlement of government funds meant for the district hospital here in Burhanpur. Lalbagh police arrested Congress leader Sandeep Jadhav on Wednesday.
This is the first time the name of the person associated with a political party has surfaced in the scam. Total six persons, including Jadhav, then resident medical officer (RMO) Prateek Navalkhe, district hospital accounts department chief clerk Ashok Pathare, three others including Sanjay Dubey, Rajesh Nimborkar and Gopal Devkar, a media person were booked by the Lalbagh police station in Burhanpur.
So far, police arrested four of them, while Navalakhe who was currently posted in Dhar and was suspended from his duty three days back and Devkar is on the run.
On Tuesday, police have booked Congress leader Sandeep Jadhav after Rs 59 lakh were to have been deposited into his Swami Samarth trading firm’s account for bills made in the name of supplying food at the time of Corona.
Besides, transactions worth Rs three lakh rupees have also come to the fore in a firm named after the wife of one media person. In this, bills have been levied for the purchase of vehicle rent and food items. The police have added the names of both in the FIR.
So far, an FIR has been lodged against six people including Dr Prateek Navalkhe in this case. Three of them have been arrested.
In the police investigation, a transaction of Rs 59 lakh has come to light from the accounts of the district hospital. Most of the bills are for supplying food to the people.
During the Corona period, the administration had started a food system to help the migrant labourers. Food arrangements were made for the migrant labourers coming to the hospital and the corona infected through the district hospital. Taking advantage of this, Dr Navlakhe colluded with Sandeep and embezzled an amount of Rs 59 lakh by presenting fake bills.
Burhanpur superintendent of police (SP) Radhul Lodha informed that during the investigation conducted so far, it has come to the fore that during the pandemic period, regular accounts of the district hospital, Rogi Kalyan Samiti and National Health Mission (NHM) got a total amount of Rs 8.45 crore, which was transferred to different accounts.
