​On November 8, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a case against five officials, including a doctor from Alapuzha Medical College in Vanadanam, Kerala.

​The accused were identified as Dr. Ramlal, assistant professor at Alapuzha Medical College; former account officers Prasanan KC, Sasidharan M and Muhammad Ansari; and former secretary Biju B.

​The accused were allegedly favouring a private laboratory named Chetna Janakeeya Lab through irregular tendering and bill approvals between June 2017 and July 2023.

​Officials said the irregular tendering caused an estimated loss of Rs 3.26 crore to the government.

​According to the reports, the case was registered on its own by the VACB following a preliminary inquiry from last month.

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They allegedly failed to maintain the necessary registers, cash books and tender books regarding the government health insurance schemes like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP), and did not go for annual tenders.

​Instead of seeking e-tenders for lab tests that were not available at the central lab of the college, the accused sought quotations and selected Chetana Janakeeya Lab, according to the FIR.

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​According to the reports, the accused allegedly permitted the laboratory to conduct 396 additional tests beyond the 257 specified in its quotation, completely bypassing prescribed norms.

Furthermore, the accused allegedly cleared the laboratory’s bills at its own self-set rates without proper scrutiny until 2021, which secured an alleged wrongful gain of ₹20.30 lakh for the laboratory and caused a corresponding loss to the government.

​The VACB also alleged that the accused later allowed the lab to submit bills which amounted to at least Rs 9.26 crore. This further resulted in wrongful gain of Rs 3.06 crore.

​The case has been registered under several sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.

​The officials said that during the investigation, certain documents were collected from the college and statements of key witnesses were recorded.

(Rh/ARC)