Rishikesh: The Uttarakhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered an FIR against the former director of AIIMS Rishikesh and three others over alleged financial irregularities in the establishment of a 16-bed Coronary Care Unit (CCU). The project, floated in December 2017, remains incomplete even today.
According to ACB sources, FIRs have also been filed against the then additional professor of Radiation Oncology and the store keeper-cum-clerk of the institute. A separate FIR has been lodged against unidentified public servants and private individuals linked to the case.
The accused have been booked under multiple IPC sections, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), along with section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting undue advantage.
Investigations revealed that the accused allegedly abused their official positions and conspired with Delhi-based contractor Puneet Sharma to extend undue favours, causing a wrongful loss of ₹2.73 crore to AIIMS Rishikesh, while making corresponding wrongful gains.
The FIRs, lodged on September 26, came after raids by the CBI and ACB at the institute, which exposed several documentary discrepancies and irregularities.
According to a report by The Indian Express, AIIMS Rishikesh released payments worth ₹8.08 crore to the Delhi-based contractor in November 2019 and January 2020, under contingent bills. Despite the payments, the CCU construction remains unfinished.
This is not the first controversy for the institute. In 2022, the CBI had registered two separate corruption cases against AIIMS Rishikesh faculty members and private firms over irregularities in setting up a chemist shop and other malpractices.
