In a significant operation, the Khandagiri Police in Bhubaneswar arrested five individuals for allegedly extorting money from patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar. The arrests were made following a raid conducted by the police in collaboration with AIIMS security staff.
The accused—identified as Pradipta Kumar Gouda, Prakash Nayak , Sidheswar Behera, Manish Pattnaik , and Bikram Keshari Mallick were arrested from the AIIMS OPD counter on the basis of reliable intelligence about a racket involving middlemen operating within the hospital premises.
The accused middlemen had been targeting patients and their families, particularly those waiting for hours in long queues to secure registration tokens for medical consultations. They falsely identified themselves as hospital staff members and offered to provide registration tickets in exchange for substantial sums of money. This unscrupulous practice allowed patients to bypass the long queues, but at a hefty price.
The Khandagiri Police acted swiftly after gathering credible information about the growing menace of middlemen at AIIMS, which serves thousands of patients from Odisha and surrounding states. After confirming the operation through undercover surveillance, a raid was conducted at the OPD counter, leading to the arrest of the five individuals involved in the scam.
Authorities have forwarded the arrested men to the court, and the investigation into the matter is ongoing. This incident highlights the challenges faced by patients at overcrowded medical facilities and the urgent need to curb such fraudulent activities that take advantage of the vulnerable.