Gurjit Singh Aujla urges CM to shift fake Covid reports probe back to Vigilance
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 10
A day after the probe into the fake Covid reports scam was shifted to the local police from the Vigilance Bureau, Amritsar’s MP Gurjit Singh Aujla on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to either transfer the probe back to the Vigilance Bureau or mark a judicial probe into the case by a sitting Punjab and Haryana High Court judge.
What MP wrote in letter to CM
In a letter to the CM, MP Aujla said when the Vigilance Bureau was about to bring conclusive results in the case, the probe was shifted to the local police, which apparently happened for the first time in the history of the Punjab Police.
He said this had led to a standoff between the patients’ families and the medical staff of the EMC hospital and the situation would turn ugly if the government did not reverse the decision.
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In a letter to the CM, he said when the Vigilance Bureau was about to bring conclusive results in this case, the probe was shifted to the local police, which apparently happened for the first time in the history of the Punjab Police. He said this had led to a standoff between the patients’ families and the medical staff of the EMC hospital and the situation would turn ugly if the government did not reverse the decision.
Aujla urged the CM to transfer the probe back to the Vigilance Bureau or order a judicial probe under the supervision of a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to reach the bottom of the matter.
In an interesting turn of events, the Punjab Government has shifted the fake Covid reports scam to the local police from the Vigilance Bureau. Many eyebrows were raised over the sudden development even as the accused had applied for bail in the local courts. The victims in the case had expressed their disappointment over the development.
On June 24, the Vigilance Bureau had booked five doctors and a hospital owner on charges of murder bid, fraud, criminal conspiracy and corruption. They were accused of fleecing patients by issuing “wrong” Covid-positive reports. The VB found at least seven persons, including a pregnant woman doctor, who were issued wrong reports that they were infected with the Covid-19 disease. It also hinted at the involvement of government officials and health staff in the racket.
Those booked were identified as Dr Mohinder Singh, Dr Ridhum Tuli, Dr Sanjay Piplani, Dr Robin Tuli (all from Tuli Diagnostic Centre), Pawan Arora (owner of EMC Hospital) and Dr Pankaj Soni of EMC Hospital.
Vicky Dutta, one of the complainants in the case, said before approaching the VB, they had met local police officials who had marked a probe to the Civil Surgeon’s office while pointing out that as per government guidelines, they could not directly act against the doctors until the Health Department asked them to do so. “If the local police did not do anything at that time, what they would do now,” he said.
A political activist, Mandeep Singh Manna, alleged that the step was taken to give a clean chit to big fishes involved in the racket. “The Vigilance Bureau is an independent agency and the victims were satisfied with the probe conducted so far. There was no point shifting the probe at this juncture. This clearly indicates that the accused managed to use their influence in shifting the probe,” Manna added.
