Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar alleged that several BJP leaders, including MLA Satish Reddy –one of the four elected representatives who exposed the bed-blocking scam in the South zone war room – are involved in the racket. He called for the Central Crime Branch (CCB) to investigate Call Detail Records (CDR) of all those working in the war rooms and ‘see how many BJP leaders called and blocked beds’.
Senior civic and police officials probing the scam said there were instances of suspected bed-blocking from other zones as well, including Bommanahalli. It was too early to point fingers at anyone, said a senior official.
Mr. Reddy vehemently denied the allegations. “It is true that my office has called the Bommanahalli war room and got beds allotted to those in dire need, people who have approached me, which is my duty as an MLA. To call that bed-blocking would be a stretch,” he said.
Meanwhile, videos of Satish Reddy barging into the Bommanahalli war room with a crowd of people seeking explanation for the lack of beds, went viral on social media. The incident took place three days ago, and at least one civic official was manhandled.
Mr. Reddy told The Hindu that 18 patients from his constituency had died in a single day, which triggered an angry reaction to the non-availability of beds. “I did go to the war room and sought an explanation, but got nothing out of the officers,” he said.
