SIT probe finds nexus between hospital, pvt lab
₹8.8 lakh were transferred from EMC Hospital to the Tuli Diagnostic Centre from April 24 to June 17 this year, reveals the investigation report
AMRITSAR: The special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab Police investigating the preparation of fake Covid-19 reports in Amritsar in June has found that the accused ‘defrauded’ innocent citizens by indulging in ‘fraudulent acts’. Amritsar police commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh heads the SIT that was formed in July after the state vigilance bureau booked five doctors for preparing fabricated and false Covid-19 test reports to fleece patients.
Doctors at the Tuli Diagnostic Centre and the owner of EMC Hospital were booked on the charges of attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and corruption.
The SIT has submitted its report in court. It has found in its investigation, a part of the report of which is with Hindustan Times, that ₹8.8 lakh were transferred from EMC Hospital to the Tuli Diagnostic Centre from April 24 to June 17 this year, which is “indicative of their unholy nexus and the same is required to be thoroughly investigated”.
The SIT obtained call details of Tuli lab’s owner Dr Robin Tuli and EMC Hospital owner Dr Pawan Arora. It was found that they were in constant touch and made 177 phone calls to each other during from May 1 to June 20; prior to that they had only nine exchanged only nine calls from January 1 to April 30. “The frequency of daily telephone conversations is a serious circumstance to prove their complicity in the commission of the alleged offence,” the SIT report reads.
Sources added that the Tuli lab conducted 1,720 Covid-19 tests, of which 1,608 patients were negative and 112 were positive. Of positive patients, 30 were admitted at the EMC Hospital.
The SIT has also expressed an opinion that the accused defrauded healthy innocent citizens to the extent of endangering their lives by intentionally falsely declaring them as Covid-19 positive and then keeping them in an isolation ward of the EMC Hospital.
A medical board comprising assistant civil surgeon Amritsar Dr Amarjit Singh, professor of department of microbiology of Government Medical College (GMC), Amritsar; Dr Kanwardeep Singh, assistant professor of GMC, Dr Surinderpal Singh and GMC associate professor Dr Sapna Soneja, also found “manipulation” in some reports that Tuli lab had prepared.
Dr Amarjit Singh said they gave their report a month ago.
“We were told to find out how many patients were falsely declared positive by the lab. The report is confidential,” he said. SIT head Dr Sukhchain said no accused had been arrested in the case as the court has directed that no coercive action be taken against the accused.
LAB AND EMC HOSPITAL OWNERS WERE IN CONSTANT TOUCH AND MADE 177 PHONE CALLS TO EACH OTHER FROM MAY 1 TO JUNE 20