CBI arrests Safdarjung Hospital neurosurgeon Manish Rawat on corruption charges

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a neurosurgeon of Safdarjung Hospital here and his four accomplices, who allegedly forced patients into buying surgical equipment from a particular establishment at exorbitant prices, officials said on Thursday.

The agency raided several Delhi and Uttar Pradesh locations linked to Manish Rawat, the neurosurgeon, and busted the nefarious nexus, they said.

After a thorough investigation, the CBI sleuths arrested Rawat and four of his cohort, including Deepak Khattar, the proprietor of Kanishka Surgical in New Delhi, and middlemen Avnesh Patel, Manish Sharma and Kuldeep, a CBI spokesperson said.

The charges levelled against them pertained to bribery and corruption.

The CBI has accused Rawat of colluding with his accomplices to extract payment from patients for medical consultations and surgical procedures while flouting the hospital's established protocols.

The agency has also alleged that the surgeon had directed his patients, via his middlemen, to purchase surgical instruments from Khattar's store, forcing them to pay inflated prices.

The spokesperson divulged that the doctor coerced the patients into paying more than the actual price for the surgical items, and that the shop owner shared the profits of overbilling with the accused physician.

The investigation further revealed that Rawat directed his patients to deposit bribes ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.

15 lakh into a middleman's bank account, the officials said.

The agency has also accused Rawat of siphoning off the excess money generated by the sale of overpriced surgical equipment, enriching himself and his co-conspirators through bribes, and laundering their ill-gotten gains through various companies controlled by a private individual.