BK Sharma at a press meet Sunday
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, July 3: Sleuths of the economic offence wing (EOW) of Orissa crime branch have nabbed suspended assistant director of the state’s directorate of factories and boilers (medical) Motilal Gouda from Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, in connection with the health check-up scam.
Gouda went into hiding in the state after Orissa High Court June 24 rejected his anticipatory bail plea, crime branch special DG BK Sharma said Sunday evening. He then fled to Andhra Pradesh.
“After getting a tip-off that Gouda was hiding in Andhra Pradesh, a special team led by EOW IG Arun Bothra camped in the neighbouring state for the last four days and nabbed him from Vizianagaram,” Sharma said.
“Gouda is being brought from Andhra Pradesh. We will produce him in court Monday and urge the court to allow us to take him on five-day remand,” he said.
The accused was nabbed in Vizianagaram July 2 night and is being brought back by road, sources said. “Gouda was hiding at a relative’s house when the police nabbed him,” said a source.
“EOW officials will probe the money trail of Gouda and his associates. They will also investigate whether Gouda gave kickbacks to political leaders or got favours from any leader,” a source said.
“A case was registered against Gouda and his associates on charges of forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and causing disappearance of evidence. Gouda had allegedly gone to a laboratory in Kharvel Nagar area and stolen several documents and information from computer that could have landed him trouble. He and his associates had issued fake gazette notifications to several laboratories and nursing homes in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Talcher. So far, four persons, including him, have been arrested,” said an EOW official.
Gouda is suspected to be the mastermind behind the issuing of a recent fake gazette notification in which corporate houses and private companies were asked to get health check-ups of their employees done at certain pathological laboratories. He is alleged to have received kickbacks of more than
`1 crore from these laboratories.
Vigilance DG RP Sharma said that the agency will probe allegations of corruption by Gouda, who is a 2007 batch MBBS.
“I have entrusted a SP rank official to probe the health-check-up scam. Our focus will be the disproportionate money acquired by Gouda,” Sharma said.
