New Delhi, May 24:Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, offered her condolences to former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya after his 21-year-old son died of cardiac arrest. 

"My deepest condolences to Mr Bandaru Dattatreya and family from the bottom of My Heart. As I know the pain when someone lost their son, I hope you will be fine. Sorry for your loss. Jai Bhim," she said in a Facebook post.

Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, had hanged himself in his hostel room on the campus on January 17, 2016 as he was allegedly upset over the disciplinary action taken against him by the varsity. 

The issue had taken a political turn with allegations that the extreme action was a result of discrimination against Dalit students at the behest of Mr Dattatreya, then Union labour minister. It was also alleged that the BJP leader had written a letter to the Education Ministry, seeking action against the Dalit students' "anti-national" acts.

Mr Dattatreya was named as a prime accused in the case of abetment to suicide. However, a report of the one-man judicial commission under former Allahabad High Court judge Justice A K Roopanwal gave a clean chit to the BJP leader.

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Ranchi, Apr 4 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted multi-state searches, including at the premises of the private secretary of former Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta, as part of a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Centre's Ayushman Bharat scheme, official sources said.

The officials of the federal probe agency raided 21 locations in Jharkhand, Delhi and West Bengal under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

Premises linked to Om Prakash Singh, Gupta, apart from that of "key suspects", including consultants and former executives of associated firms, were raided early morning. A security team of central paramilitary personnel accompanied the officials of the federal probe agency.

Locations of officials linked to the Jharkhand State Arogya Society (JSAS), employees and offices of Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) like MD India, Safeway, Medi Assist and their associates were also raided, they said.

There was no immediate response to the ED action by Gupta or his PS.

ED teams raided a house in Mango locality and a nursing home along NH-33 in Jamshedpur city apart from locations in Ashok Nagar and Bariyatu in state capital Ranchi.

In Kolkata, the offices of some "entry operators" or hawala dealers are being raided, the sources said.

The ED, agency sources said, suspects that "proceeds of crime" were generated through systematic "fraud" within the Ayushman Bharat scheme through "manipulation" of hospital empanelment and processing of "fake" claims facilitated by a "nexus" demanding commissions and kickbacks.

Ayushman Bharat is a flagship scheme of the Union government which aims to achieve universal health coverage for citizens.