CBI Books 3 AP Men In Nationwide NMC Scandal

The accused from AP are Dr. B. Hari Prasad of Kadiri in Anantapur district, Dr. Krishna Kishore of Visakhapatnam, and Gayatri Medical College director Venkat.

CBI has intensified the investigation following concrete information that officials associated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and NMC have entered into a criminal conspiracy with intermediaries and representatives of various private medical colleges across the country to manipulate the regulatory process in exchange of bribes.

They allegedly facilitated unauthorised access to confidential files and sensitive information, which led to manipulation of the statutory inspection process carried out by the National Medical Commission.

This led to medical institutions knowing in advance the inspections of colleges that NMC has scheduled, apart from those who would conduct the inspection. This enabled the medical institutions to use ghost faculty, fake patients, and tampered biometric records. Further, NMC assessors received bribes to give favourable reports.

Investigations revealed that Dr. Virendra Kumar, one of the accused, coordinated operations in southern India through Dr. Hari Prasad, Dr. Krishna Kishore and Dr. Ankam Rambabu of Hyderabad. Posing as a consultant, Dr. Virendra Kumar and B. Hari Prasad arranged dummy faculty for inspections and facilitated Letters of Renewal and other NMC approvals in return for bribes.

Hari Prasad had allegedly collected ₹50 lakh from Gayatri Medical College director Venkat to ensure favourable resolution of a matter pending before the NMC. A portion of the bribe had subsequently been transferred to Dr. Virendra Kumar in Delhi via hawala channels.

The CBI found that Dr. Hari Prasad and Dr. Ankam Rambabu jointly managed the regulatory affairs of Father Colombo Institute of Medical Sciences, Warangal. In return, Fr. Joseph Kommareddy of the institute had paid ₹20 lakh and ₹46 lakh on two separate occasions.

The CBI has charged that bribes running into lakhs of rupees have been exchanged between NMC teams, intermediaries and representatives of medical colleges through hawala. Such money has been used for multiple purposes, including construction of a temple.