Amritsar court rejects bail plea of 3 doctors accused in fake COVID-19 report scam

The court of additional sessions judge Sarabjit Singh Dhaliwal rejected the bail pleas of three doctors of Tuli labs, while two others, including EMC Hospital owner Pawan Arora, withdrew their applications. The three, in collusion with three other doctors at a private hospital, are accused of preparing fake COVID-19 positive reports at their laboratory, Tuli Diagnostic Centre (TDC), to fleece patients. All six accused are absconding, with the other three withdrawing their bail applications.

The racket gained attention in June when at least four patients, reported to be COVID-19 positive at the accused’s lab, turned out to be negative for the disease after retesting at the lab in Government Medical College (GMC), Amritsar.

Dr. Sanjay Piplani of Tuli Laboratory had already withdrawn his application during the last hearing.

Advocates appearing on behalf of the complainants said the court rejected the bail applications of Dr. Robin Tuli, Dr. Ridhum Tuli, and Dr. Mohinder Singh. The applications of Pawan Arora and Dr. Pankaj Soni were dismissed they had withdrawn their applications after hearing the arguments.

The Vigilance Bureau had booked them on charges of attempt to murder, cheating, forgery, and corruption on June 24. “The special investigating team should nab the accused who have been evading arrest since the registration of the case,” said Raj Kumar Khullar, one of the complainants.

Amritsar police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “We are conducting raids to nab the absconding accused.”