Ahmedabad: One of the main accused in the Khyati Hospital case, Kartik Patel, who is the Chairman & Director of the hospital, was arrested late last night by the city crime branch of Ahmedabad Police at SVPI Airport. Patel had been abroad when he was booked by the police. He had been moving from one country to another but was finally apprehended. A lookout notice had been issued against him, and a local court in Ahmedabad had earlier rejected his anticipatory bail plea.

Khyati Hospital is at the center of a major medical malpractice and fraud scandal involving the misuse of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). Previously, the police had arrested Rajshri Kothari, Dr. Sanjay Patoliya, Pankit Patel, Pratik Bhatt, Milind Patel, hospital CEOs Chirag Rajput and Rahul Jain, and Dr. Prashant Vazirani in connection with the case. Some of them went underground, while others were easily caught by the police.

Crime Branch ACP Bharat Patel, during a media briefing, stated, “Accused Kartik Patel, who was on the run to avoid arrest, was nabbed today. At the time of the incident, he was in Australia. After that, he moved to Dubai on an on-arrival visa and stayed there for around two months. Due to the lookout circular issued against him, the airport police detained him today upon his arrival at Ahmedabad Airport.”

In the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that all activities were being carried out under his supervision as chairman. Further investigation is ongoing regarding the accused’s involvement in financial transactions between the hospital, PMJAY, and the insurance company.

Regarding Kartik Patel’s background, the senior police officer added, “Patel started his career with a video cassette manufacturing business and later ventured into the construction industry. He is also involved in the education sector, running institutes, colleges, and schools. Patel became a partner at Asian Bariatric & Cosmetic Hospital. In 2022, he officially started Khayti Hospital at the same premises. All financial transactions were conducted under his authority.”

The accused traveled to Australia on November 3rd. Following the incident on November 11th, he moved to New Zealand and later fled to Dubai, where he stayed in a hotel. During the preliminary probe, he stated that his wife was unwell and required medical assistance. He also claimed that they could no longer remain in hiding, which is why they returned. The senior police officer concluded, “The investigation is ongoing.”

The accused were booked following allegations of unnecessary angioplasty procedures performed on seven patients, two of whom Mahesh Girdhar Barot (52) and Nagar Moti Senma (75) 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, had claimed that the surgeries were carried out to fraudulently claim financial benefits under the PMJAY-MA (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Mukhyamantri Amrutam) scheme, of which the deceased were beneficiaries. DeshGujarat