Noida: Gang uses health scheme cards of ex-servicemen to hospitalise patients, 4 held

DCP (Central Noida) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said the accused allegedly used stolen or borrowed ECHS cards of ex-servicemen to get patients admitted to hospitals in exchange for money.

“The fraud came to light after staffers at Yatharth Hospital in Sector 110 grew suspicious about a patient. On October 14, Danish had admitted the ailing wife of Puran, a resident of Aurangabad in Bulandshahr, claiming that she was the dependent of an ex-serviceman,” he added.

Police said that according to the hospital staff, Puran visited only once after the woman was admitted and later stopped answering calls. “When doctors tried to contact the number registered on the ECHS card, they found that it belonged to a retired soldier from Bulandshahr. The ex-serviceman, when contacted, said that his mother — whose name was on the card — was at home and perfectly healthy,” said the DCP.

Following this, the hospital management cross-verified the card on the defence portal and found it to be fake. They then informed the Phase 2 police and filed a complaint through hospital representative Dr Ajay Goyal.

Avasthy said that acting on a tip-off, police arrested Danish and Puran from Sector 110. Pradeep and Sumit, both residents of Bhawsi village in Aurangabad, were picked up soon after.

Police said that during questioning, the men admitted that they ran a gang that misused ECHS cards of ex-servicemen. “They would obtain the cards — sometimes by bribing or deceiving the original owners — and use them to admit patients under false identities. In return, they charged hefty amounts from those seeking hospitalisation without paying full medical costs,” the DCP said.

Police said Danish had paid around Rs 2 lakh to arrange the “fake admission” for Puran’s wife. He had allegedly procured the ECHS card of a man named Mayank from Bulandshahr and pasted Puran’s wife’s photograph over it before printing a duplicate.

Probe has also revealed that Pradeep, who worked in the marketing department of Yatharth Hospital, had aided the gang by facilitating the admission process, police said. While looking for Mayank, police said they are also verifying whether the gang had conducted similar frauds in other NCR hospitals.

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