Bhopal: ‘Bunty and Babli’ caught at AIIMS; Expose Others
AIIMS Bhopal
Love makes people do strange things. In true ‘Bunty and Babli’ style, a man and his girlfriend — posted as computer operators at a patient registration wing — generated fake payment receipts and allegedly pocketed the money. A police complaint was lodged in this regard by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal. While Bunty got caught, Babli exposed the entire gang.
“We caught Bunty (name changed) handing out fake payment receipts and then Babli (named changed) came to his rescue, saying Bunty was not involved, as it was her work shift. The hospital administration sacked Bunty. In retaliation, Babli exposed the others involved in the scam,” said Jitendra Rathod, the storekeeper-cum-clerk and in-charge of OPD registration at AIIMS, Bhopal.
When Babli could not rescue Bunty, she reached the higher officials at AIIMS, who were given proof of the embezzlement of money and fraud transaction estimated to be in crores of rupees. The incident took place in September. “She exposed others involved and came to the rescue of her man who was caught generating fake payment receipts,” said Rathod, who is also being investigated. He has since been removed from his post.
According to a top AIIMS internal investigation, cash worth Rs 20,000 was being embezzled for years from a patient registration and payment collection counter of the hospital. On the record, the AIIMS, Bhopal, administration says a few people were involved. Three persons have been named in a complaint. It includes a man and his partner. However, AIIMS director Dr Sarman Singh and medical superintendent Dr Manisha Shrivastava refused to come on record on the matter.
The hospital’s payment gateway was managed by an outsourced private company, Trio. As supervisor, Rathod handled the administration and generated passwords for all. “They should have changed it,” he said.
Investigation has revealed that administrator passwords were used to avoid audit detection. Off the record, AIIMS admits that only a few contractual and outsourced employees cannot pull off a scam of this magnitude.
“We will take cognizance of the matter,” Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) joint secretary Sunil Sharma told TOI. PMSSY administers all new AIIMS in the country.
A CBI inquiry into the matter is likely, according to an official of the Union ministry of health and family welfare. MP EoW has been approached in the matter, too, said hospital sources. The police complaint of fraud was lodged by AIIMS on Wednesday.
