4 YEARS ON, NO CHALLAN IN CANCER PATIENT FLEECING CASE

FARIDKOT:Four years after alleged siphoning off of funds under Chief Minister’s Cancer Relief Fund was reported and the police registered a criminal case against a local chemist, the cops are yet to file a challan.

The case pertains to chemists making inflated medicine bills for cancer patients admitted at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.

At least five doctors at the hospital were also indicted for being part of the racket and recommending chemist shops that charged inflated bills. The firstinformation report (FIR) in the case was registered at the Faridkot (city) police station against the owner of five chemist shops in the medical college, on September 20, 2013.

This was after Jaspal Singh of Ahal village accused a chemist shop owner Puneet Tayal of charging many times the rate of cancer medicines for his daughter’s treatment. Jaspal alleged that the accused also raised forged bills for medicines he did not even buy.

After the initial sluggish investigation that the then CM also took not of, a special investigation team (SIT) was formed in the case on September 26, 2013. The SIT, in its report submitted on December 11, 2013, concluded that five doctors were part of the nexus and recommended legal action.

He had raised the matter even in May this year. The police had then said that the challan would be submitted within a week.

SSP Nanak Singh said, “We are rechecking records. The initial investigation officer has been transferred. We don’t want to do anything in a hurry.”