Health dept to probe into claim about Pune hospital's refusal to admit pregnant woman
Pune (PTI): Maharashtra Minister Prakash Abitkar on Friday said a senior official of the health department will conduct an inquiry into the incident in which a hospital in Pune allegedly refused to admit a pregnant woman due to the non-payment of an advance deposit of Rs 10 lakh.
The alleged incident took place at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, and the woman, Tanisha Bhise, wife of BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe's personal assistant, died after giving birth to twin girls at another hospital.
Talking to PTI, Abitkar said, "We have asked the deputy director of the health department to inquire into what exactly happened at the hospital. After we receive his report, we will take necessary action if the hospital is found to be in the wrong."
Workers of opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT) Congress and the NCP (SP), staged protests outside the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and even threw coins at one of the hospital staffers.
Police have been deployed in large numbers outside the facility to prevent untoward incidents.
MLC Gorkhe had on Thursday claimed that despite an assurance to pay Rs 3 lakh immediately, the hospital denied admission to the patient, and even a call from the Mantralaya did not yield any response from them.
The hospital, however, refuted the allegations and blamed the woman's kin for giving "misleading information".
The hospital's medical director, Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, had said they would prepare a detailed report about the incident and submit it to the health department.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
