The crime branch arrested two people, including a 40-year-old doctor, for allegedly pocketing ₹75 lakh from the chief minister’s (CM) relief fund, meant for the treatment of patients from the economically and socially-weaker sections.
“Dr Anil Harish Nagrale was arrested on Saturday. A court has remanded him in police custody till August 30, while the mastermind of the fraud, Arati Shigwan, was arrested on Sunday. We are investigating the case further to establish the identities of Nagrale’s associates and if they had availed the benefits from the fraud,” said Santosh Rastogi, joint commissioner of police (crime branch).
The incident came to light this month, when the authorities were verifying documents submitted by Nagrale and Shigwan in the name of two fictitious patients to avail the funds from the CM’s office.
“In the documents, the accused wrote that the patients were admitted in a hospital in Thane. When the authorities visited the said hospital to inquire about the patients, they did not find any patients on the name mentioned in the documents submitted by the duo. The authorities then lodged a police complaint against the two accused on August 16,” said a police officer.
After the complaint was lodged, the police began to investigate the case and discovered that Nagrale used to run a hospital in partnership at Thane.
“Along with his associates, Nagrale had submitted fake documents of 64 fictitious patients to the departments concerned between July 2017 and February 2019 to avail the benefits of the CM’s fund. The documents stated that these patients were undergoing treatment for major ailments such as kidney and liver failure, heart disease and cancer,” said the officer.
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