CBI exposes alleged bribe-for-medical report scam in railways; books doctor, two loco pilots

lnformation further revealed that Dr Jyoshna Priyadarshini informed Shaik Rasool Karimulla that she had referred the unfit case of Gadidapati Ramesh Babu, loco pilot, South Central Railway, Guntur division to Central Hospital, Lallaguda, Secunderabad, the FIR said.

The CBI Visakhapatnam has lodged an FIR against a railway doctor and two loco pilots who allegedly bribed the former to obtain favourable medical reports and secure undue benefits at their respective workplaces under the South Central Railway Zone. Officials claimed this is just the tip of the iceberg of ''widespread corruption across railway zones'', where doctors allegedly accept bribes from employees in exchange for fictitious medical reports. Employees then use these reports to obtain extended leave or get medically decategorised, enabling them to move from demanding field duties to office-based roles, they said. The FIR stated that Dr Priyadarshini, who served as the senior divisional medical officer at Nandyal in the Guntur division, allegedly connived with a private individual, Shaik Rasool Karimulla, who collected bribe money from both employees in return for sickness certificates. Karimulla allegedly transferred the money to the doctor's driver's account to avoid suspicion. It further stated that one of the employees, Lakkakula Venkata Siva Jyothi, a loco pilot who had her job profile changed to technician on medical grounds, did not join the new department and continued on sick leave. According to the FIR, Jyothi had applied for sick leave regularisation and medical re-screening, and Dr Priyadarshini allegedly demanded Rs 1 lakh to help her. However, Jyothi reportedly negotiated the amount down to Rs 75,000. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in the FIR, has mentioned the money trail from Jyothi to Karimulla and subsequently to Dr Priyadarshini's driver. In another case, Gadidapati Ramesh Babu, a loco pilot in the Guntur division, allegedly wanted to be declared medically unfit to work as running crew so that he could be transferred to a stationary job. ''lnformation further revealed that Dr Jyoshna Priyadarshini informed Shaik Rasool Karimulla that she had referred the unfit case of Gadidapati Ramesh Babu, loco pilot, South Central Railway, Guntur division to Central Hospital, Lallaguda, Secunderabad,'' the FIR said. It further alleged that Karimulla was asked to arrange video EEG and get the report in favour of Babu to enable decategorisation -- declaring him medically unfit to facilitate change of duty. The investigating agency found a similar money trail in this case as well. According to the FIR, both incidents took place in June last year. Employees say such corrupt practices are widespread in railway hospitals, due to which even genuine medical cases are often viewed with suspicion. ''The Railway Board should explore ways to curb this corrupt practice, as it not only causes harassment to genuine employees but also impacts its operational efficiency,'' an official said.