One of the accused in police custody
Rajkot: While claiming that no one else from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay (PDU) hospital (Rajkot civil hospital) was involved in beds-for-cash scam, the city police on Thursday said two arrested persons had managed to get an 85-year-old woman admitted on the bed of a person who succumbed to Covid-19.
Police have arrested Jagdish Solanki (20), an attendant in the Covid ward and Hitesh Mahida (18), a sweeper, after video of the former striking a deal for Rs 9,000 had gone viral on Tuesday.
Detailing the modus operandi, police said Mahida used to look out for beds which got vacated as the patient occupying it died. He then alerted Solanki (20) who would be negotiating with relatives of needy patients outside the hospital.
At any given point of time, there are 50- 60 vehicles including cars and ambulances lined up at Chaudhary High School ground just behind the hospital.
RAJKOT: “I won’t settle for anything less than Rs 9,000. Even I have to pay (part of this amount) to those inside (Rajkot Civil hospital). You will get the bed within 30 minutes.”
This is a part of the conversation between an agent and some relatives of a needy Covid-19 patient in Rajkot where hundreds have been braving blistering heat and waiting for hours to get admission into the Civil hospital for days together now.
On Wednesday, as the video of this backdoor entry deal went viral, the detection of crime branch (DCB) and Pradhyumannagar police station detained two persons - Jagdish Solanki (20) and Hitesh Mahida (18) - late in the night. Solanki works as an attendant in the hospital while Mahida is a sweeper. Both are residents of Jamnagar.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha chairs meeting with experts from power sector
As the winter wreaked havoc, the power scenario in the valley was comparatively better, this time. Continuing the efforts to put in place better infrastructure and improved services in the sector, the measures are being taken and monitored at the top level. Taking review and seeking response from the field experts, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired two meetings in a week. Directing concerned officers to work for making things “best,” LG Sinha asked them to work on war footing to identify critical issues, their probable causes and likely mitigations in order to further improve the scenario of the power supply system in J&K. Giving nod to undertake projects being undertaken under various schemes, the meeting was told that J&K government has started strengthening the 33/11 KV substations for better power supply to various under-serviced areas. The experts in the team have prepared a detailed report. They ha