In picture, the accused Pankaj Kumar
Two persons including a lab assistant at Delhi's AIIMS have been arrested by the Delhi Police for demanding Rs 5 lakh from a Covid patient for an ICU bed.
They have been identified as Pankaj Kumar and his sister Kawalpreet Kaur alias Mamta. Police said that Pankaj worked in the hematology lab of the AIIMS. Kawalpreet is a housewife.
They were arrested from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district after the call detail records revealed their location.
According to the complainant, identified as Haripal, persons named Bhushan Kumar and Sunil Kumar had taken Rs 2.8 lakh for the admission of his wife to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. Police filed a case based on the complaint lodged by Haripal.
During interrogation, Bhushan told police that they (he and Sunil) knew the complainant's brother-in-law Ravinder Pal Singh. Ravinder had contacted Sunil for arranging an oxygen cylinder.
Police said that Bhushan runs a manufacturing unit where welding work is done.
Bhushan arranged an empty oxygen cylinder for Ravinder. He again contacted Bhushan on April 30 for getting his sister admitted to some hospital as she was in a critical condition.
Bhushan then contacted his acquaintance Pankaj who said that a bed can be arranged if some money is arranged. Bhushan then shared his sister's, Mamta, mobile number, saying she can manage to get the patient admitted.
Mamta and Pankaj demanded Rs 5 lakh for getting the patient admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. After the complainant's son delivered Rs 2.8 lakh to them, the duo fled away to Mandi.
During police interrogation, it was revealed that Pankaj, his brother Santosh and one of his two sisters Kruna, all work at the AIIMS in Delhi.
