12 medical middlemen arrested from BPKIHS

By Nisha Rai, Dharan, July 8: The police have arrested twelve people from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, on charges of acting as middlemen.

The accused middlemen have been taken into custody on charges of luring to provide medicines at cheap prices from private medical institutions to patients who came to the institute for treatment and sending them to private hospitals through financial manipulation.

The Area Police Office, Dharan, has stated that a joint team deployed from the District Police Office, Sunsari, Area Police Office, Dharan and Temporary Police Post Ghopa arrested the middlemen.

Police have registered a case against them and obtained a 10-day remand from the District Administration Office, Sunsari, and are investigating the case at the Area Police Office, Dharan.

During the investigation, two visiting cards of Arya Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar were recovered from the leather wallet carried by Deepak Ram, who was arrested.

Similarly, during the initial examination of the mobile phones recovered from them, prescriptions of patients from various government hospitals, photos of discharge documents, records of patients' names, diseases and age details sent to other people, and photos of documents mentioning the names and contact numbers of ambulance drivers were found.

The police say that the seized materials have provided an important tip for further investigation into the possible network of middlemen active in the hospital, the collection of personal details of patients and possible coordination with private hospitals.

Chandra Bahadur Khadka, Information Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police at the District Police Office, Sunsari, informed that further investigation is being conducted by the Area Police Office, Dharan against all those arrested.

He has urged patients and relatives coming for treatment not to fall prey to any middlemen and to immediately inform the police if they see suspicious activities.

The police have increased surveillance after receiving information that attempts were being made to influence patients and relatives coming for treatment by saying that they would be provided with medicines at cheap prices from private medical institutions.