Ahmedabad: A cheating and embezzlement case has surfaced at the liquor permit office on the Civil Hospital campus in Asarwa, where officials allege that user fees collected from applicants were not deposited into the govt-linked Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) account and were instead misappropriated by staff members.The complaint was filed by Dr Jayant Solanki, 57, a medical officer at Civil Hospital who oversees several administrative functions, including the operations of the liquor permit office situated in the 1,200-bed hospital building. According to Dr Solanki, the suspected irregularities came to light during a routine scrutiny of financial records associated with permit fee collections.The FIR, registered with Shahibaug police on Saturday, names senior clerk Karshansinh Vaghela and two outsourced employees, Navinchandra Dabhi and Vasantkumar Ninama. They are accused of working in collusion by accepting cash payments from applicants, entering the details into official registers, issuing receipts, and failing to deposit the collected fees into the RKS bank account. The complaint alleges that the trio retained the cash for personal gain.Assistant commissioner of police F-Division Rina Rathva said that the three named in the FIR have been arrested and further investigations are going on. Praful Pansheriya, minister of state for health and family welfare, said that action has been taken against three outsourced employees, including Ninama and Dabhi. He said that the department has been instructed to initiate further action against Vaghela. According to the complainant, applicants seeking a new liquor permit are required to pay Rs 25,000, while those applying for renewal must pay Rs 20,000. According to rules, these payments must be made online through a QR code transfer directly into the RKS account, and cash transactions are explicitly prohibited. However, during verification, hospital authorities reportedly found that several applicants had paid in cash at the permit office and were issued receipts that falsely indicated online payment.The irregularities were uncovered during a review of registers and bank account records for the period between Jan 1 and March 17. The review identified nine applicants whose payments — amounting to Rs 1.8 lakh — were not deposited into the designated RKS account. The complaint includes the names and phone numbers of these applicants. Hospital officials contacted them and asked for copies of their receipts via WhatsApp.Once the applicants’ receipts were matched with office registers and bank statements, officials allegedly confirmed that cash had been taken and not deposited. This suggested a deliberate pattern of malpractice rather than isolated oversight.In response to the findings, the hospital administration has formed a four-member committee to determine how long the alleged siphoning of funds has been occurring and whether the total misappropriated amount is higher than currently identified. The inquiry is ongoing.Police action has been sought against the accused for cheating, tampering with receipts, and misappropriating govt funds meant for deposit into the Rogi Kalyan Samiti account.Info boxRules floutedThe accused allegedly collected cash despite mandatory online payment rulesReceipts falsely showing online transfers into hospital committee account issued to applicantsAudit identified nine applicants whose payments were not depositedOfficials matched receipts, registers, statements confirming alleged malpracticeInquiry committee formed to assess scale and duration of fraud
