Himachal Pradesh Health Services Director Arrest

The Director of Health Services of Himachal Pradesh was recently placed under arrest by the Vigilance and anti-corruption bureau on the charges of accepting bribery and indulging in corruption.

The arrest was made after a 43-second audio clip surfaced where two people were having conversations regarding some purchases, and the accused was identified as one of them. He was allegedly asking for a bribe of Rs 5 lakhs.

After the audio went viral, the additional chief secretary, RD Dhiman, secured the clip for Vigilance scrutiny. When asked questions regarding the audio, the accused could not offer acceptable answers, which resulted in his arrest.

According to recent reports, the audio is a recording of a telephonic conversation where the accused was asking for a bribe regarding some purchases of the health department, which were supposed to be made for handling the recent coronavirus pandemic situation.

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Extra chief general of police, Anurag Garg, stated that the accused answered vaguely to the enquiries of the investigators. He informed HT, "He demonstrated specific amnesia in reviewing occasions in the recent days." Searches were directed in the workplace and home of the accused, and the search was supervised by SP SIU Shalini Agnihotri.

They retrieved and seized certain documents. He has been set under suspension by the state government. Miss Agnihotri gave her statement to The Hindu saying, "For forensic voice analysis of the accused, we will have to seek court permission to collect voice samples of the accused, which can only start once he is fit to join the investigation."

Ms. Agnihotri stated that on May 21, the accused was remanded in five-day legal custody, in view of the police report about his corruption allegations.

The accused was rushed to the Indira Gandhi Medical College for his health condition after his arrest, and the doctors found during the check-up that his blood pressure and insulin were high, adds Tribune.

Further procedures will be followed once his condition improves.

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