: The State Economic Offences Investigation Agency and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) has arrested five officials linked to the Chhattisgarh Medical Services Corporation (CGMSC) in connection with the multi-crore reagent procurement scam. Those arrested include Basant Kumar Kaushik, Dr Anil Parsai, Chhirod Rautiya, Kamalkant Patanwar, and Deepak Kumar Bandhe.

  

The arrests follow prolonged questioning of several officials after the conclusion of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s budget session. Earlier, SEOIACB had arrested Shashank Chopra, Director of Mokshit Corporation, a supplier allegedly involved in the scam. The arrested officials were produced before the Special Court, which remanded them to SEOIACB until March 28 for further interrogation. The massive scam surfaced during an audit conducted by the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD). Principal Accountant General (Audit), IAS Yashwant Kumar, had earlier flagged the irregularities in a letter addressed to Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Pingua. According to the audit report, during the Congress regime, the Health Department’s CGMSC allegedly siphoned off Rs 660 crore through unauthorized purchases made via Mokshit Corporation. The report highlighted extensive financial discrepancies that severely impacted the state treasury.

 

The audit team thoroughly examined CGMSC’s supply records, particularly concerning medicine and equipment purchases for the financial years 2022-24 and 2023-24. The investigation revealed that CGMSC made purchases worth Rs 660 crore without any sanctioned budget allocation. These irregularities were flagged by the audit team, which also noted that a significant portion of the purchases involved surplus chemicals and medical equipment, far exceeding actual requirements. Further scrutiny revealed that over 776 primary health centres received supplies despite inadequate infrastructure for storage or technical manpower. Shockingly, more than 350 primary health centres lacked even basic storage facilities or trained personnel to manage the materials.

 

The audit team reported that the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) issued supply requests without conducting any baseline surveys or gap analyses to assess actual healthcare needs. Following these developments, SEOIACB presented the five arrested officials before a special court in Raipur, which remanded them in SEOIACB custody until March 28 for further investigation. SEOIACB has intensified questioning of the accused Shashank Chopra, Managing Director of Mokshit Corporation, who has been taken into remand for the second time.