Bribes For Surgery: CBI Slaps Fresh Case Against Safdarjung Neurosurgeon For Amassing Illicit Assets

The CBI has filed a fresh FIR against Safdarjung Hospital neurosurgeon Manish Rawat, who was arrested in March in a bribery case, for allegedly amassing Rs 2.40 crore worth of illicit assets, officials said.             
    
His wife Khushbu Rawat is also named in the FIR as an accused in the case, they said.
    
Officials said the doctor along with four of his confidants, including Deepak Khattar, proprietor of Kanishka Surgical in New Delhi; and middlemen Avnesh Patel, Manish Sharma, and Kuldeep; was arrested in March for allegedly compelling patients to procure surgical equipment from Jangpura shop at inflated prices in exchange for expedited surgery dates.
    
The CBI spokesperson had said Rawat coerced patients into paying a price that was manifold over the actual price for the instruments. 
    
The shop owner shared the profits of overbilling with the accused surgeon, he said.
    
The investigation further exposed Rawat's directions to his patients to deposit bribes ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.15 lakh into a middleman's bank account. 
    
The probe agency also stumbled upon portions from the “grey diary” during searches which shed light on the racket spearheaded by Rawat in cahoots with his cohorts and the proprietor of the surgical equipment emporium. 
    
The Central Board of Investigation (CBI) had also found jewellery worth Rs 69 lakh in a locker.   
    
The investigation showed that the Rawat couple had Rs 3.39 crore and their expenditure was Rs 1.16 crore. 
    
"During the check period, they acquired assets amounting to Rs 4.63 crore which include five immovable properties worth Rs 3.47 crore in Noida (UP) and Haldwani (Uttrakhand), investment of about Rs 48 lakh in companies/firms wherein Khushbu Rawat is one of the directors/partners and investment of Rs 17.5 lakh in insurance policies," the CBI FIR registered on Friday said. 
    
It alleged that Rawat has "intentionally enriched himself illicitly" and acquired assets in his name as well as in the name of his wife to the tune of Rs 2.40 crore, which is 70.85 per cent above the known sources of income of the couple.