- Rajiv Rangeela, main accused in Rs 700 crore medical scam, surrendered.
- He was arrested and sent to 4-day ACB custody for questioning.
- Accused of creating shell companies and fixing supply rates.
Jagran correspondent, New Delhi | Rajiv Kumar Rangeela, the main accused in the Rs 700 crore medical equipment purchase scam, surrendered before the Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Thursday. 50-year-old pharmaceutical trader was subsequently arrested and sent to 4 days ACB custody on Friday.
He had been absconding since the case was registered. The ACB had issued a lookout notice against him. The case relates to a medical equipment and drug procurement scam involving the Delhi government's Central Procurement Agency and the Directorate General of Health Services.
After failing to appear despite several ACB notices, officials conducted months-long raids in Delhi-NCR and Uttarakhand to find him. He fled to the United States after the first arrest in the case and has been on the run since June.
The court had declared him a fugitive, and the agency was preparing to seize his assets in the first week of October.
What ACB Found In Probe
The ACB investigation revealed that Rajiv, a resident of East Delhi, had created several shell companies under fictitious names. The paper owners of these companies were his servants and tea vendors, while Rangeela himself was the actual operator.
F Med Devices, Technocrats, Rajshree, Ashi Surgical & Pharmaceuticals, and M Sahib & Sons Pvt. Ltd. are all companies owned by Rangeela. Rangeela is accused of colluding with manufacturers to fix supply rates and receive cash commissions. It is alleged that the manufacturers deliberately crafted terms and specifications that favoured select firms. The confusion was created by introducing fictitious companies into the records.
These documents were sent to Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, the then head of the CPA office, who presented them to the tender committee. Dr Ranga was the first person to be arrested in this case, and was arrested on June 18.
The investigation also revealed that Rajiv is a major pharmaceutical trader and supplier. He also contested the 2014 assembly elections from Karnal as an independent candidate, though he lost.
The ACB probe found that he owns properties in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. During his remand, the ACB will question him about those who helped him set up these fake companies and about the files that went missing from the department.
(With Rakesh Kumar Singh's Inputs)