ACB arrests pharma distributor Rajiv Rangila in Delhi medical procurement case

The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested pharmaceutical distributor Rajiv Rangila in connection with alleged irregularities in the procurement of medicines, medical equipment and consumables worth hundreds of crores, officials said.

Rangila, 47, who allegedly fled India after an FIR was registered on June 2, is the fourth person arrested in the case. He was arrested after he returned from the United States (US) on a flight in the early hours of Thursday and surrendered before the ACB the same day, officials said.

The ACB team, which is investigating the case, produced him before a city court, which sent him to four days of custody for further investigation.

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Rangila was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in the case and a look-out circular (LOC) was also issued against him, an ACB official said, requesting anonymity.

“We have already filed a charge-sheet in the case. Rangila is a mastermind in the entire multi-crore scam, as he was the prime beneficiary of the crime proceeds amounting to nearly R750 crore. He had formed four companies the owners of which were people known to him, including his employees. These four companies were awarded the contracts to supply the medical supplies. Even the basic norms were violated while awarding the contracts to the companies in question,” the official added.

ACB chief Vikramjit Singh had earlier said that Rangila was an accused in the case and multiple teams were looking for him.

Rangila allegedly played a “key link” between the companies that supplied the medical supplies and the officials from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) involved in the alleged multi-crore cheating case, according to the official cited above.

Three people – former director-general of the DGHS Vatsala Agarwal, former head of the CPA’s office Vinod Kumar Ranga, and deputy controller of accounts (DCA) of the CPA Neeraj Chopra – have already been arrested in the case that was registered on June 2.

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“Rangila has been a pharmaceutical distributor and a contractor of medical supplies in hospitals for over 25 years. His long association with the medical field helped him understand the system’s loopholes, which he allegedly exploited to commit the multi-crore scam in association with the top officials of the DGHS and the CPA,” another official said, requesting anonymity.

A resident of east Delhi’s Priyadarshini Vihar, Rangila reportedly owns multiple properties in Delhi, Uttarakhand and Haryana. He had also unsuccessfully contested the Haryana assembly elections in 2014 as an independent candidate from the Karnal assembly seat, the official said.

The ACB had registered an FIR after the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance conducted searches at the CPA office and filed a complaint alleging serious irregularities in the agency’s procurement processes. The allegations relate to the procurement of portable X-ray and C-Arm radiological equipment, anaesthesia workstations, oral rehydration solution, surgical consumables, and medicines.