Pune corporation health chief denies allegations of Rs 90-lakh Covid test kit scam

Dr Ashish Bharati, chief of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s health department, has denied allegations levelled against him in an FIR registered over the alleged illegal sale of Covid testing kits by a PMC-run hospital to private labs and individuals.

The FIR was registered Thursday on a complaint lodged by Dr Satish Kolsure against Bharati, ward medical officer Dr Aruna Tarde; Dr Rushikesh Gardi, then swab centre in-charge at the Arvind Bartakke Hospital in Warje; and others under Indian Penal Code sections 420, 406, 409, 465, 466, 467, 468, 471—charges mainly related to cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery.

The FIR was registered on an order passed by a magistrate court on a complaint filed by Kolsure, who alleged a scam of nearly Rs 90 lakh. 

He previously worked as a doctor at the PMC-run hospital in Warje, police said.

Kolsure has alleged that Covid testing kits at the hospital were illegally sold to private individuals and labs and that documents and registers at the hospital were tampered with and forged for the purpose.

However, in a statement, Dr Bharati said the allegations against him were false and that as per the directions of the central and state governments, he had asked his subordinates to conduct maximum Covid tests.

However, according to Kolsure, a preliminary investigation by the Warje Malwadi police station into his allegations has confirmed the offence.