Karnataka govt authorises CBI to attach excess properties of mining baron Janardhana Reddy
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Thursday authorised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to attach 'excess properties' belonging to former minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy, his wife and companies owned by him.
The order came after the High Court of Karnataka granted the state government two days on January 10 to give information on the delay in granting permission to the CBI to attach Reddy's properties.
The court had asked the government why it had not given the go-ahead to attach the properties worth Rs 19 crore while it had earlier sanctioned the attachment of Rs 64 crore assets.
The government order on Thursday referred to the request made by the Superintendent of Police of the CBI to issue authorisation to the Pairavi officer/Holding Investigation Officer' to file an application before the special court for CBI cases in Bengaluru for the attachment of scheduled excess properties' of Reddy.
"The Pairavi officer/Holding Investigation Officer is hereby authorised to file an application before the special court for CBI cases, Bengaluru city for the attachment of scheduled excess properties of G Janardhana Reddy in his name as well as in the name of his wife and his companies and also other properties as shown in the schedule of properties as shown in the schedule of the properties that is submitted along with the letter dated August 30, 2022," the order said.
The CBI had sought direction from the court to the government to approve attachment proceedings against the main accused in the Ballari illegal mining case. The request of the CBI has been pending before the government since August 2022.
The CBI had traced additional properties in the name of Reddy, his wife, and the company in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The agency seeks to attach those properties in the illegal mining case pending before a special court since 2013.
The central agency claimed Reddy was trying to sell the properties he had obtained from the money from illegal mining activities through his companies Obulapuram Mining Company and Associated Mining Company Ltd.
On December 25 last year, Reddy had announced the launch of a new political party 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha'. An accused in the illegal mining case, he has severed his two-decades-old association with the BJP.
Re-entering electoral politics from outside Ballari district of the state, Reddy said he would contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavathi in Koppal district.
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6 held in Gujarat for fraudulently issuing PM-JAY cards to ineligible candidates
Ahmedabad, Dec 17: Police in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city have busted a racket allegedly involved in fraudulently issuing Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) cards to ineligible candidates, and arrested six persons in this connection, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused issued the PM-JAY cards to ineligible beneficiaries by altering the source code of the official portal using login credentials of an authorised outsourcing firm, they said.
The scam was unearthed by the city police's crime branch during its investigation into the deaths of two PM-JAY beneficiaries at Ahmedabad-based Khyati Multispeciality Hospital on November 12 following a botched angioplasty procedure, the police officials said.
So far, the police have arrested eight persons in connection with the deaths at the hospital. Key accused Kartik Patel, owner of the hospital, is still untraceable and is believed to be out of India.
The PM-JAY is a flagship scheme of the central government that provides a cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to eligible families.
"During the probe, it came to light that one Nikhil Parekh, the Gujarat head of Enser Communication, which holds a government contract for issuing Ayushman Bharat cards, had allegedly provided the master login credentials to other accused for issuing cards to ineligible persons," Joint Commissioner of Police, (Crime) Sharad Singhal said.
The accused helped nearly 3,000 persons in acquiring the Ayushman Bharat cards using this fraudulent means, he said, adding that the scamsters used to charge Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 from each beneficiary.
The arrested accused were identified as Nimesh Dodiya, Mohammad Fazal Sheikh, Mohammad Asfaque Sheikh (all from Ahmedabad), Imran Karigar (from Surat) and Narendra Singh Gohil and Imtiyaz (both from Bhavnagar).
The absconding accused have been identified as Nikhil Parekh, one Rashid from Bihar and owner of Khyati Hospital Kartik Patel, who is believed to be out of India, Singhal said.
"Our probe into the deaths of two PM-JAY beneficiaries showed that the hospital management, at the behest of Kartik Patel, had hired Nimesh Dodiya, an ethical hacker, to prepare Ayushman Bharat cards of ineligible patients. For each card created through fraudulent means, Dodiya used to charge Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000," he said.
Dodiya was connected with other arrested accused who were also involved in similar fraudulent activities of preparing Ayushman Bharat cards, he said.
"Parekh helped these scamsters by providing them a master login ID of Enser Communication, an authorised outsourcing firm for making these cards. Without this ID, it was not possible to alter the source code and verify the beneficiaries using the Aadhaar number. Parekh used to charge Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month from scamsters," the JCP said.
Of the total 3,000 Ayushman cards issued using this fraudulent method, some were meant for patients admitted to Khyati Hospital, he said, adding that an investigation is underway to find out how many of these card holders have submitted their claims to avail of free treatment.
The investigation against the hospital was triggered by complaints from the families of two deceased patients, who were among seven individuals who underwent angioplasty at the hospital on November 11.
Angioplasty is a procedure that widens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart.
Patients were falsely registered under the "emergency" category to expedite government approval. In return, the hospital claimed payments from the government, police stated.
On November 12, the city's Vastrapur police registered three FIRs over the death of two PM-JAY beneficiaries due to botched angioplasty.
Police have registered three FIRs, charging the accused with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The FIRs accuse the hospital management and doctors of conspiring to obtain financial benefits under the PM-JAY scheme.
