Rims employee held for issuing fake Covid certificate to scam accused in Ranchi

RANCHI: Ranchi police arrested an employee of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) and his relative in connection with the issuance of fake Covid-19 positive certificate to Sanjay Tiwari, a key accused in Rs 100 crore midday meal (MDM) scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Sadar DSP Prabhat Ranjan Barwar said that the arrested persons included Rims employee Priyaranjan Ravi and his brother Amardeep Ram. He said that Ram was an employee of Tiwari and he asked Ravi to make the fake certificate in name of Tiwari. A sum of Rs 7,000 was also paid to Ravi for the crime.
Tiwari, who was supposed to surrender before the PMLA court in the MDM scam, produced the fake Covid-19 positive report to avoid going to jail. He was exposed when the certificate was sent to Rims for verification. The court issued a warrant for Tiwari's arrest on Friday.
Will take strict action if Rims fails to act: ED
Meanwhile, the ED wrote a strong letter to the Rims management regarding the issuance of the fake certificate and sought action.
The central agency said that it would initiate strict action on its part if the hospital management did not comply.
Rims superintendent, Dr Hirendra Birua, lodged a case with the Bariyatu police station in this connection.
The ED on Saturday also conducted raids at two places, including at Tiwari's residence in Argora in Ranchi city to nab him.
During the MDM scam funds allocation, the state midday meal authorities allegedly transferred the amount to the bank accounts of Bhanu Construction owned by Tiwari.
The ED is investigating the money laundering aspect of the matter.