Haryana’s vigilance dept arrests Palwal Chief Medical Officer for accepting bribe
The CMO, Dr Jai Bhagwan, allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh from the owners of Sunrise Trauma Hospital that was facing closure threat.
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Dr Bhagwan has been booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 308(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that deals with punishment for extortion, at the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Police Station in Faridabad. (Express Photo)The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau of Haryana on Thursday arrested Dr Jai Bhagwan, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Palwal, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.
The Gurgaon unit of the Vigilance department also recovered an additional Rs 3 lakh in cash from a cupboard at the doctor’s official residence in Palwal during a raid.
Dr Bhagwan has been booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 308(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that deals with punishment for extortion, at the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Police Station in Faridabad.
According to the complainant who runs Sunrise Trauma Hospital in Palwal along with three others, Dr Bhagwan had been threatening to shut down their hospital, citing operational deficiencies. The CMO allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh to allow the hospital to continue functioning, claiming he needed to pay off other officials. The complainant stated that he had already paid Rs 6 lakh about 20 days ago and an additional Rs 1 lakh on Wednesday.
Dr Bhagwan then demanded the remaining Rs 8 lakh, of which the complainant arranged Rs 1 lakh for payment Thursday night, leading to the sting operation by the Vigilance Bureau.
The Vigilance department has urged the public to report bribe demands by government officials to the toll-free numbers 1800-180-2022 or 1064 for prompt action.
In January, the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had recovered Rs 3.65 crore and gold worth Rs 6.5 lakh from the residence of a retired Haryana Development and Panchayat department official.
The recovery came after the ACB conducted a raid at the Panchkula residence of the official in connection with a scam worth Rs 50 crore and arrested the accused, identified as Shamsher Singh, who had retired on November 30 last year.
ACB officials had said that currency notes were found in a bed and almirahs at Shamsher’s house at Panchkula Sector 28.
The ACB had registered a case on January 24 this year against junior officials of Haryana Development and Panchayat department posted in Faridabad apart from a outsourcing services firm.
An audit report of Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) had earlier found that funds were disbursed to the Palwal District Development and Panchayat Officer for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 without approval of Chief Accounts Officer of the panchayat department.
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