The ACB had conducted simultaneous searches at 23 places on the offices and residences of officials of IMS and other areas and seized key documents.

By | Published: 11:26 am 11:39 am

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested seven persons including the Insurance Medical Services (IMS) department Director Ch Devika Rani and Joint Director K Padma in connection with financial irregularities in supplying medicines to dispensaries and hospitals.

The other arrested persons include IMS Assistant Director Vasantha Indira, pharmacist Radhika, Omni Media Managing Director Srihari and employee Nagaraju and Srihari, and IMS senior superintendent Harshavardan.

The ACB on Thursday had conducted simultaneous searches at 23 places on the offices and residences of officials of IMS and other areas and seized key documents.

The ACB enquiry revealed that the IMS Director and other officials were allegedly “involved in making fake indents, falsification of records, violating the rules and regulations in purchasing the medicines, surgical kits and caused loss to the government exchequer”.

Earlier, the State government’s vigilance and enforcement (V&E) wing had conducted an enquiry into the allegations that no proper eligibility criteria was followed by the IMS Director in the selection of firms for supply of medicines.

The wing, which filed a report in March this year, found that medicines were bought at “exorbitant” prices, in “violation” of the procurement procedures and the e-tender processes.

On the allegations, the ACB said two fake indents for medicines worth Rs.1,03,13,247 were prepared by Padma on May 26, 2018 and May 28, 2018 and bills were claimed though the incharge medical officers of dispensaries at Patancheru and Borabanda here had never indented those medicines. Rani passed the bills.

Similarly, medicines worth Rs 1,22,51,291 were indented and received by Padma but the stock was not sent to the dispensaries of Bollaram and Bonthapally during May 2018.

Another allegation was that Director and other officials caused loss of Rs 9,43,47,947 to the government exchequer in purchasing medicines through Special Drug Dispensing Unit in Local Purchase instead of Rate Contract (RC) during the year 201 7-18, the ACB said.

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