Ayushman card scam: Khyati Hospital CEO remanded for 5 days

Ahmedabad: A magisterial court here granted the city crime branch five days of custodial interrogation of Chirag Rajput, CEO of Khyati Multispecialty Hospital, on Saturday. Rajput is implicated in a scam involving the issuance of Ayushman cards to ineligible individuals to fraudulently avail benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), govt's free healthcare scheme. Rajput was arrested along with others in Nov after two patients died following angioplasty procedures performed at Khyati Hospital under the PM-Jay scheme. During the investigation of this case, the crime branch busted a racket where Ayushman cards were issued to ineligible persons. The investigation allegedly revealed the involvement of office-bearers of Khyati Hospital.The crime branch got Rajput's custody in the second case and sought his remand for 14 days. The remand application mentioned that the investigator wanted to find out how many cards had Rajput got co-accused, Nimesh Dodiya, to prepare and how much amount was paid. They also want to know how many claims were cleared.The investigator also wants to know the whereabouts of Khyati Hospital owner Kartik Patel, who is absconding and not in India at present.The probe agency wants to find out how many officials of the state health department and PM-JAY scheme were involved in this scam and how much money Rajput had paid them. His custody was also sought to find out if any other person from Khyati Hospital was involved and how many doctors and commission agents sent patients to the hospital for a commission.Opposing the remand application, Rajput's advocate, Ajj Murjani, submitted that the whole FIR was based on a confessional statement extracted in police custody. An accused's remand cannot be sought to collect materials, to find the whereabouts of absconding accused or to collect documentary evidence.