Nims cardiologist in ACB net for taking bribe

Hyderabad: Eminent cardiologist Dr D Seshagiri Rao, head, department of cardiology, Nizam's Insititute of Medicine (Nims), was on Monday caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.6 lakh from a stent supplier.
    Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths recovered the tainted amount from his office and arrested him. A case was registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
    Nims director Dr A Dharmarakshak told ‘TOI’ that Dr Sheshagiri Rao would be suspended. “There is a criminal case and automatically Dr Rao is suspended,” Dr Dharmarakshak added.
    The Nims cardiologist demanded Rs 1.6 lakh bribe from a former Member of Parliament (MP) for doing an official favour.
    On Monday morning, former Nizamabad MP Atmacharan Reddy, who runs a stent and pacemaker distribution company (Charan Medical & Cardiac Devices Pvt Ltd), approached ACB sleuths with a complaint against the cardiologist. Atmacharan Reddy had first approached the cardiologist in August 2012 asking him to purchase stents supplied by his firm. “The complainant alleged that the doctor was willing to use the stents supplied by him provided he gives Rs 10,000 commission per stent,” an ACB official said.
    The former MP then agreed to pay the commission. After a deal was struck, the cardiologist implanted 16 stents supplied by the former MP's firm in patients between September and November 2012. As the complainant did not pay him the commission, the doctor stopped using his stents from January, 2013, the ACB officer said.
    On January 21, the former MP met Dr Seshagiri Rao at the hospital to sort out the issue, but the cardiologist sternly told him to pay the commission to get further purchase orders, forcing him to approach the ACB.
    Based on a complaint, ACB sleuths booked a case under the PC Act against Dr Seshagiri Rao and laid a trap to nab him. As per the plan, the complainant went to Seshagiri Rao’s chambers at the hospital and gave him the bribe amount. As soon as Seshagiri Rao accepted the bribe and placed it in his table draw, ACB sleuths entered the room and informed the doctor that he was being arrested for demanding and accepting bribe. The tainted bribe amount was recovered from the possession of the cardiologist and chemical test conducted on his hands yielded positive result.
    Seshagiri Rao would be produced before the ACB special court on Tuesday. Following the trap, a team of ACB sleuths landed at Dr Seshagiri Rao’s residence in Jubilee Hills and searches were on till late in the night.