Constitute SIT to probe health scam: BJP leader Shanta Kumar to HP CM

Veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar on Friday urged Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to set up a special investigative team (SIT) to probe the case of alleged corruption by a health department official. The opposition Congress has been demanding that the probe be entrusted to a sitting high court judge.

In a Facebook post, former chief minister Shanta Kumar urged Thakur to immediately set up an SIT of honest officials to probe the case. His appeal came two days after Rajeev Bindal resigned as the state president of the BJP over the issue. Bindal had resigned from his post on Wednesday within four-and-a-half months of his appointment, saying he was doing so to ensure a proper investigation into the case of alleged corruption by a health department official. In a resignation letter sent to BJP president J P Nadda, Bindal said he was tendering his resignation on high moral grounds as some people were dragging the party's name in the alleged corruption by the health official.

Health Services Director Ajay Kumar Gupta was arrested on May 20 by the State Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau after a 43-second audio clip went viral, in which he purportedly asks the other person for a bribe of Rs 5 lakh. Shanta Kumar also urged Thakur to immediately arrest Prithivi Singh, who is reportedly a liasioning officer of Punjab's Dera Bassi-based firm Bio Aid. Singh allegedly recorded the audio, in which he can be heard discussing with the now-suspended health services director Gupta the handover of Rs 5 lakh.

The veteran BJP leader said it was necessary to take the case to its logical end. If it is not done, the lost faith of the public will not be restored and the state government has a big responsibility in this view, he added.  Meanwhile Congress submitted memorandums to deputy commissioners of the districts under Kangra parliamentary constituency on Friday in support of its demand of handing over the probe into the scam to a sitting judge of the high county, Himachal Pradesh Congress general secretary Rajneesh Kimta said.  In the memorandums addressed to Governor Bandaru Dattatraya, the Congress stated that corruption in purchase of medical equipment including PPEs and sanitisers at a time when the state was battling coronavirus was a matter of grave concern.  As the role of the ruling party leaders is suspected, the scam is required to be fairly probed, stated in the memoranda..