Man held for preparing fake dope test reports

PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 7 

A fourth-class employee of the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital has been nabbed by the Amritsar rural police for allegedly clearing the dope test reports of arms licence seekers.

The accused, identified as Gaurav Bhandari of the Ramdass area, was arrested by the police following a tip-off. He is reportedly a relative of a close confidant of former Punjab minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

According to information, Bhandari was a ward attendant at the Civil Hospital here. He was hired by a private firm outsourced by the government for providing facilities of ward attendants to the hospital. He has been working with the hospital for the past several years.

The police received specific input that Bhandari was making fake dope test reports of applicants after taking bribe. Investigation revealed that he was issuing reports on the fake letterhead of the hospital. “During preliminary interrogation, he confessed to have made around 50 fake dope test reports. However, we are verifying whom these reports were issued and checking their antecedents. Those who were issued arms licences on the basis of these fake reports would be cancelled,” said Vikram Jeet Duggal, SSP, Amritsar rural.

He said the accused admitted that he used to take Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for the same. However, we suspect that he would be taking higher amounts from applicants for clearing dope test reports. We have doubts on the number of fake dope test reports prepared by him so far.

The Punjab Government had made the dope test mandatory for the applicants who seek new or want to renew their arms licence in April last year. However, many arms licence applicants failed to clear dope test.

Highly placed sources in the Civil Hospital said Bhandari was already under scanner of the authorities though there was information of his arrest. “Though he claimed that he was alone in the racket, we are still trying to trace the involvement of other persons,” said the SSP.

Investigating officer Takwinder Singh said a case under Section 420 (cheating and thereby dishonestly inducing delivery of property or the making, alteration or destruction of a valuable security), 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of a record of a court of justice or kept by a public servant), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document which is known to be forged) of the IPC was registered against him.