BMC officers in purchase department, contractor booked over Remdesevir injections fraud

The case was registered at Aagripada police station Friday night and was transferred to EOW for further investigation. The EOW will also see if the financial irregularities are linked to any political leader or their frontmen.

An officer from EOW, who conducted the preliminary inquiry, is the complainant in the case.

A senior EOW officer confirmed that unidentified officials from purchase department and Mylal Laboratory have been booked under sections 406, 409,420 120, 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

During the Covid period, Remdesevir injection which was priced at Rs 650 was purchased for Rs 1,568. As many as 65,000 such injections were purchased on inflated rates.

“We will soon summon the BMC officials concerned for questioning,” said an EOW officer.

The financial irregularities in the purchase of Remdesevir injections surfaced when the Enforcement Directorate was carrying out thorough investigation in connection with the money laundering in BMC’s in their spending in the operations of Covid jumbo centres. The ED then wrote to EOW highlighting the gross irregularities. Following this, preliminary enquiries were initiated to look into this. After the PE concluded that a congnizable offence was committed, an FIR was lodged.

The ED may soon register an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the matter to probe the money laundering in the said irregularities involving purchase of Remdesevir injections on inflated rates, sources said.

As per BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s allegations, a few weeks ago, he has made a complaint to ED, EOW and income tax about 10,000 Remdesevir injections going missing.

Somaiya claimed that Remdesevir injections were purchased by the BMC’s purchase department in a very non-transparent manner.

He further alleged that the injections worth crores of rupees were purchased but there is no record maintained by BMC on which hospitals these injections were distributed, to whom the injections were administered, etc.