HYDERABAD: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials, investigating the Rs 11.50-crore scam relating to the purchase of medicines in the Insurance Medical Services (IMS) department, are now collecting details of the medicine indents supplied to all 70 dispensaries in the State. The officials suspect that the irregularities in purchasing medicine indents might have taken place in all dispensaries.
For this purpose, the ACB officials have initiated the process of collecting details of medicine indents including the supplied order date and year, the total worth of the medicine, supplier information, etc.
During the preliminary probe, the ACB officials had found irregularities amounting to Rs 11.50 crore in some of the dispensaries, and realised the involvement of a number of IMS officers as well as private persons in the scam. It is learnt that a few senior officials had colluded with pharmacy companies and purchased medicine indents by creating fake and false bills, diverting the State government funds.
The investigation agency officials suspect that the total scam runs into crores of rupees, and have hence intensified probe to estimating the total worth of the said medicine indents. The ACB officials have arrested eight IMS staff including the managing director and staff of Omni Medi.
Six officials suspended
Following the arrest of IMS officials in connection with the irregularities in purchasing medicine indents, the government issued orders suspending the officers involved in the case. They suspended officers are IMS director Ch Devika Rani, joint director of Warangal K Padma, assistant director K Vasantha Indira, Shamshabad ESI pharmacist M Radhika, senior assistant V Harsha Vardhan and M Surendranath Babu