HYDERABAD: The State government has accorded permission to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to attach the properties that were procured illegally by former director of Insurance Medical Service (IMS) CH Devika Rani, pharmacist Naga Lakshmi and others.
The ACB officials, who are investigating the case of irregularities in the Employees' State Insurance's (ESI) medicine purchase indents, had raided the houses of the accused persons and found that they possessed illegal assets. The ACB seized unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 4 crore from Devika Rani and Naga Lakshmi.
The accused persons had gotten the money by collecting mamools from pharma companies in return for providing offers in the supply of medicine indents to the ESIs. The pharma firms colluded with Devika Rani by floating shell companies.
The companies provided medicine indents to the ESIs by charging more than usual, and in turn duped the government. After the ACB officials unearthed the illegal properties of Devika Rani and the other accused, they wrote to the government seeking to attach the assets. The government then issued orders permitting the same.