PMJAY fraud case: Ahmedabad hospital treated 141 patients under MoUs with 5 public sector entities, probe reveals

These entities include two of the biggest public sector companies in India — the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC), and the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), which is the country’s largest public sector steel producer. There was also an MoU to provide treatment to employees of Western Railway (WR), whose jurisdiction includes the entirety of Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The Crime Branch also revealed that apart from the PMJAY scheme, Khyati Multispeciality Hospital is also empanelled under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) under which Indian military pensioners and their dependents can avail treatment.

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) – which is one of India’s top institutions for the study of astrophysics under the Department of Space, established in Ahmedabad by Dr Vikram Sarabhai — was among the five public sector entities to have a tie-up with the private Ahmedabad hospital. There were two patients from this institute, confirmed officials.

These revelations came after Crime Branch officials took accused Dr Sanjay Mulji Patolia to Khyati Hospital on Saturday to check the relevant files, especially account books, in the presence of a government appointed Chartered Accountant (CA).

Dr Patolia, a Bariatric Surgeon and Director of Ahmedabad Bariatrics and Cosmetics Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the hospital, was arrested by the Crime Branch on December 4, after being on the run for three weeks after the filing of the three FIRs in this case, on November 13. On December 5, the DCB received a seven-day remand of the accused.

In its statement on Saturday, the Crime Branch said it had taken Dr Patolia to Khyati Hospital and conducted another search of offices in his presence, seizing more documents, including account books and income tax records, since the hospital had, in its latest filing, shown a loss of Rs1.5 crore.

An investigator further told The Indian Express that the government appointed CA is studying this fresh round of data.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch had, earlier on Thursday said they were widening the scope of their investigation into the accounts of the hospital. It said that between September 1, 2021, and October 28, 2024, the hospital had treated 8,534 patients of which 3,842 were treated under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – Mukhyamantri Amrutam (PMJAY-MA) scheme. A total of 112 patients had died at the hospital in this period.

In November, the hospital conducted a medical camp in Borisana village of Mehsana district. Barot and Senma were among seven PMJAY beneficiaries who underwent angioplasty, allegedly without informed consent, at the hospital last month after the medical camp in Borisana.

Notably, of the nine accused in this case, Dr Sanjay Patolia became the seventh to be placed under arrest, on December 4. Those arrested earlier include visiting cardiologist Dr Prashant Prakash Vazirani, who was arrested on November 13 itself; while Director Chirag Rajput, CEO Rahul Jain, and three members of the marketing team, Milind Patel, Pratik Bhatt and Pankil Patel were arrested on November 26. Meanwhile, two other co-owners of the hospital – Kartik Jasu Patel and Rajshree Pradeep Kothari – are still absconding.

–Reported by Brendan Dabhi