The Hindu : Police bust CM's Relief Fund racket

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 16, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Police bust CM's Relief Fund racket

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA DEC. 15. The City police today resolved the Chief Minster's Relief Fund scam by arresting five persons including two working in the CM's peshi, the PRO of the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences and a local ayurvedic doctor who together allegedly siphoned off Rs. 19.9 lakhs with the help of forged certifcates and medical bills. They were all remanded to judcial custody.

Addressing a press conference, the Assitant Commissioner of Police, P. Krishna Rao, said that the accused had `voluntarily' returned Rs. 17.69 lakhs to the relief fund after the scam broke out. An ayurvedic doctor, Balasubramanyam (40), running Padmaja multi-speciality hospital submitted applications for financial aid in the name of fictitious patients. He got the aid sanctioned with the help of Sivamohan Raju and A.N. Venkata Ramudu, working as personal assistants in the CM's peshi. Later, he issued a certificate saying the operation was conducted and got a cheque issued in the name of Padmaja multi-speciality hospital.

It is alleged that the NIMS PRO, N. Panduranga Rao, acted as liaison between the ayurvedic doctor and the CM's peshi. The police also arrested J. Venkata Sesha Sai who allegedly got the fake medical bills and forged documents. Mr. Krishna Rao said that the accused got the sanction orders from the Chief Minister by submitting a bunch of applications seeking assistance. They put the genuine applications on the top and the fake ones below at 4 or 5 pm when the Chief Minister was in a hurry to leave and got his approval.

When the scam broke out, he said that the NIMS PRO returned Rs. 10 lakhs and the Ayurvedic doctor returned Rs. 4.5 lakhs to the CM's relief fund. Police froze the bank accounts of the doctor in Vijayawada and Hyderabad where he had deposited Rs. 3.19 lakhs. They might have spent the balance of Rs. 2.21 lakhs in getting the fake documents and medical bills and on travel. He did not reveal what the share of the two persons working in the peshi was.

It still remains a mystery as how the cheque was issued in the name of Padmaja multi-speciality hospital which was not in the list of recognised hospitals for sanctioning financial assistance from the CM's relief fund.

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