After raids on Himachal hospitals, ED claims several important files missing
Central agency recovers Rs 88 lakh in cash, seals 140 bank accounts
Following raids on private hospitals in Himachal Pradesh in the alleged Ayushman scheme fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has revealed that “several files related to patient reimbursement claims were missing”, and that there were “serious discrepancies” in official records.
Among others, the probe agency had on Wednesday raided the hospitals owned by Nagrota Congress MLA RS Bali and Himachal Congress treasurer Rajesh Sharma, who had unsuccessfully contested the Dehra Assembly election in 2022. Both Bali and Rajesh are seen close to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
During the raids, the ED recovered Rs 88 lakh in cash, four bank lockers and 140 related bank accounts. The agency also seized immovable and movable properties, ledgers and other documents.
Sixteen digital devices, including mobile phones, iPads, hard disks and pen drives containing information related to claims and documents linked to the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), Chief Minister Himachal Swasthya Care Yojana (Himcare) and other health schemes were also confiscated.
The ED’s statement highlighted that the seized documents contained information about hospital claims involving suspicious transactions worth Rs 21 crore for 23,000 patients.
The searches uncovered several cases where there was a serious discrepancy between the claims made to the government and the data available in the hospital files. Additionally, numerous files related to claims made in patients’ names were found to be missing, it said.
The searches were conducted at 20 locations across Kangra, Una, Shimla, Mandi and Kullu districts as well as premises in Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh. The premises of Nagrota MLA Bali, Fortis Hospital in Kangra (promoted by Bali’s company Himachal Healthcare Pvt Ltd), Balaji Hospital in Kangra and its promoter Rajesh Sharma, City Super Specialty Hospital, Shri Harihar Hospital, Sood Nursing Home, Neelkanth Hospital and their key management persons Dr Vijender Minhas, Dr Pradeep Makkar, Manish Bhatia, Dr Manoj Sood and Dr Hemant Kumar were also searched.
The ED money laundering case, registered on July 16, stems from an FIR filed by the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2023 against Kiran Soni, Una-based Shri Banke Bihari Hospital, and others for allegedly creating fake AB-PMJAY cards. The ED said that Shri Banke Bihari Hospital, Balaji Hospital, Sood Nursing Home, Fortis Hospital and Shri Harihar Hospital were among the facilities that availed of the scheme.
The ED identified 373 fake Ayushman cards, for which about Rs 40.68 lakh was claimed for reimbursement from the government in the name of treatment provided to the said Ayushman card beneficiaries. So far, a total of 8,937 Ayushman Bharat Golden Cards have been cancelled in the state due to alleged violations of the scheme.
Himachal Pradesh minister and Congress leader Jagat Singh Negi claimed that the raids against Bali were a result of the BJP’s alleged frustration over its defeat in six of the nine Assembly seats in the recent byelections.
