Doctor, veteran among 3 held in ECHS scam

Amritsar, November 2

The police have arrested three persons, including a doctor and an ex-serviceman, in Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) scam where huge amounts of government funds were swindled by private hospitals by claiming fake medical bills.

ADCP Sandeep Malik, investigating the scam, said those arrested were identified as Dr Sunil Dutta of Neelkanth Hospital, ex-serviceman Shinda Singh and his wife Parkash Kaur.

In a complaint to the police, Brig MD Upadhyay, Station Commander (Station Headquarters), Amritsar Cantonment, had claimed during an internal investigation, the accused, including doctors and several ex-servicemen, were found guilty of connivance and misappropriating government funds. The armed forces submitted a report to the police and 24 persons, including 14 doctors, were booked for fraud.

The Army authorities found that several veterans misled the ECHS cardholders to collect cards and later connived with hospital managements to fabricate record in order to usurp funds from the Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare.

The ex-serviceman lured ECHS cardholders by saying the Centre was providing a relief fund in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and asked for their cards. Later, they made fraudulent admissions in hospitals during the lockdown and claimed hefty medical bills from the department.

Malik said as the investigations involved a lot of documentation, the probe was taking some time. — TNS