Rajasthan ambulance scam: CBI files chargesheet against Ravi Krishna, 2 others
Those named in the chargesheet include then CEO of the company Sweta Mangal and then employee of the company Amit Antony Alex. The company has also been named in the FIR, according to a CBI spokesperson.
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Jaipur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed a chargesheet against Ravi Krishna – son of former union minister Vayalar Ravi, the director of Ziqitza Health Care and other officials of the company in connection with the ‘108’ ambulance scam. Those named in the chargesheet include then CEO of the company Sweta Mangal and then employee of the company Amit Antony Alex. The company has also been named in the FIR, according to a CBI spokesperson.
The chargesheet was filed in the special CBI court in Jaipur on Monday. The agency spokesperson said that further investigation was continuing. It was yet unclear whether the agency plans to file a secondary chargesheet against several others who were named in the FIR. The chargesheet filed on Monday didn’t mention senior Congress leaders Sachin Pilot, Ravi and former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
Pilot and Gehlot, along with former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram and former Union minister Vayalar Ravi’s son Ravi Krishna, were named by CBI in its FIR in 2015. It was alleged that there were many irregularities in the tender process.
After the BJP came to power in Rajasthan, chief minister Vasundhara Raje ordered a probe into the alleged scam in 2014. The alleged scam hogged headlines in the media after former Jaipur mayor Pankaj Joshi registered an FIR.
Rajasthan police investigated the case initially, but the CBI took it over on the state government’s recommendation. When the Rajasthan police lodged the FIR, it also named former state Health Minister A A Khan, Sweta Mangal, the then CEO of Ziquitza Healthcare, Shaffi Mather, former Economic Advisor to Kerala CM Oommen Chandy and the NRHM Director.
It was alleged that the scam caused a loss of Rs 2.56 crore to the state exchequer.
The contract for the operation of ‘108’ ambulances was awarded to Ziqitza Healthcare in 2010 when Ashok Gehlot was the chief minister. The company allegedly submitted exaggerated invoices and claims.
