Hyderabad's doctor couple diverted medicines, illegally amassed Rs 100 crore wealth

Hyderabad: The sleuths of Hyderabad Anti-Corruption Bureau unearthed wealth worth Rs 100 crore (market value), illegally amassed by the civil surgeon (retd) P Gurumurthy. The latter is the husband to former Indian Medical Service Director Devika Rani. The accused couple garnered wealth by colluding with pharma companies and diverted medicines meant for ESI beneficiaries.

ACB officials booked Gurumurthy for collecting and abetting bribe amounts and purchasing properties behalf of Devika Rani. On December 3, the investigators conducted simultaneous searches at Dr Devika’s residence at Hyderabad and her relatives’ houses at Tirupathi and Kadapa. The searches revealed that the duo had acquired properties worth crores.

The disproportionate assets recovered by ACB include Rs 3.8 crore-worth villa and Rs 2.65 crore-worth three flats at Shaikpet village and a flat worth Rs 1.27 crore at Somajiguda. Besides, officials seized 16 commercial shops in Hyderabad worth Rs 3.85 crore, bank balance of Rs 1.13 crore with multiple institutions, and Rs 8.4 lakh cash from the couple’s residence.

While the document value of recovered immovable properties is approximately Rs 15 crore, ACB claims that the market value could come up to Rs 100 crore. The investigators are also probing Devika for her payment of Rs 2.3 crore to PMJ Jewellers. The officers arrested P Gurumurthy on December 4, and they produced him before ACB Court, Hyderabad. He is currently lodged in the Chanchalguda central prison in the city.

ACB officials had arrested Devika Rani on September 27 on the charges of masterminding a multi-crore fraud in Telangana Insurance Medical Services (IMS). The investigators were acting upon various complaints filed against Devika and 17 other government employees. They are accused of creating fake indents and indulging in the falsification of records. It has caused a loss of Rs 11.69 crore to the government exchequer.

ACB authorities had also arrested Dr Cheruku Arvind Reddy, proprietor of Venkateshwara Health Centre in Balanagar, his supervisor K Ram Reddy and a lab technician K Likhith Reddy as part of the scam.