ED raids Himachal Cong MLA, others in Ayushman case

Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday raided 19 locations in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, including premises of Himachal Congress MLA RS Bali, some private hospitals and their promoters as part of a money laundering probe into Ayushman Bharat case.

The agency had launched a probe under Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on an FIR registered last year by the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau against Kiran Soni, Una-based Shri Banke Bihari Hospital and others for generating fake AB-PMJAY (Arogya Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna) cards. ED has alleged that many medical bills were generated on such "fake" cards.

About 19 locations in Shimla, Kangra, Una, Mandi and Kullu in Himachal apart from Delhi and Chandigarh were raided by ED. The premises of Bali, Fortis Hospital in Kangra (promoted by Bali's company Himachal Healthcare Pvt Ltd), Balaji Hospital in Kangra and its promoter Rajesh Sharma were raided.


Sharma, according to agency officials, is "close" to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Agency sources claimed that PMLA probe has revealed that apart from Banke Bihari Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Shri Balaji Hospital, Sood Nursing Home and Sri Harihar Hospital, etc, availed illegal benefits of AB-PMJAY scheme.

During investigation, the ED claims to have identified as many as 373 fake Ayushman cards through which claims of about ₹40,68,150 were made for reimbursement from the government in the name of treatment given to the said Ayushman card beneficiaries. On verification, the "fake beneficiaries" denied possession of any information of any such PMJAY cards.

Agency sources said Bali is chairman of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and vice-chairman of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board.