Ahmedabad: The Vastrapur police today arrested Dr. Prashant Vazirani, the visiting cardiologist who performed angioplasty surgeries on seven patients at the city-based Khyati Hospital. This comes after the death of two patients and allegations that the surgeries were performed without obtaining consent from their families or a valid medical reason.

Dr. Vazirani is one of five individuals named in three FIRs filed in connection with the case, where the owners and doctor of Khyati Multispeciality Hospital are charged with culpable homicide, attempted culpable homicide, forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. The other accused include Hospital Chairman Kartik Jashu Patel, CEO Chirag Hirasingh Rajput, Directors Rajshri Pradeep Kothari, and Dr. Sanjay Mulji, a bariatric surgeon.

These individuals have been booked in connection with the alleged unnecessary angioplasty surgeries performed on seven patients, two of whom – Mahesh Girdhar Barot (52) and Nagar Moti Senma (75) – later died due to alleged negligence in their post-operative care.

The FIRs, one filed by the Gujarat government at Vastrapur police station in Ahmedabad and two filed by the families of the deceased at Kadi police station in Mehsana, claim that the surgeries were conducted to falsely claim financial benefits from the PMJAY-MA (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Mukhyamantri Amrutam) scheme, of which the deceased were beneficiaries.

Ahmedabad Zone-1 DCP Himanshu Kumar Verma told the media that the police arrested Dr. Prashant Vazirani shortly after the FIR was filed and are currently looking for the other accused, who were not found at their homes. Vastrapur PI LL Chavda stated that they would seek Dr. Vazirani’s remand from court on Thursday evening.

It is known that Hospital Chairman Patel is currently in Australia, while Rajput, who had been the public face of the hospital administration in recent days, disappeared the evening after Health Secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi announced that the hospital owners would face charges of culpable homicide, among others. The other accused, Kothari and Patolia, were also not found by police at their homes as of Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, residents of Borisana village in Kadi taluka protested on the streets, raising slogans against Ahmedabad’s Khyati Hospital following the deaths of two Kadi patients. The frustrated villagers claimed that the deaths of the two Kadi residents are not being properly investigated and that the hospital is being shielded due to political influence. The protests caused a two-and-a-half-kilometer traffic jam on the highway Thursday morning.

In another case, the state health department has launched a probe against Vadodara’s Anjana Hospital over a similar suspicious scam under PMJAY. It has been alleged that the hospital provided a patient with oxygen even when it was not required. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s Ayushman card officer, Dr. Tejash Patel, and Medical Officer Mohsin arrived at the hospital for an investigation. CCTV footage from the hospital will also be collected. Details of patients admitted under the Ayushman card scheme at the hospital were also obtained. DeshGujarat