Med orders, money trail put CGHS staff, pharma firms under CBI lens | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Medicine suppliers allegedly transferred kickbacks to the bank accounts of Central Govt Health Scheme (CGHS) officials in exchange for supply orders and clearance of bills at the scheme’s Begumpet office, according to a CBI FIR covering transactions between 2022 and 2025.CBI’s anti-corruption branch, Hyderabad, registered the FIR on Sept 28 following a preliminary enquiry. The alleged money trail includes direct bank transfers, cash deposits and subsequent transfers between the accounts of officials and private persons.The FIR names Secunderabad-based Lorven Pharma and Surgicals and its proprietor, its representative Madupaduga Ramanaiah, private assistant manager E Venu Gopal, New SS Medical and General Stores, Secunderabad, and its representative T Chiranjeevi.The public servants named in the case are then CGHS administrative officer M Saravanan, then senior pharmacist YLN Murthy, then senior health administrative assistant Ponnala Mahesh and then pharmacist S Krishna Murthy. The FIR also names unknown public servants and firms.According to the FIR, YLN Murthy and Krishna Murthy allegedly processed office notes, note orders and supply orders to obtain quotations from favoured suppliers. The requisitions included medicines such as “Antioxidants + B complex”, “Sacubitril 24 mg + Valsartan 500 mg” and “Sitagliptin 50 mg + Metformin 1000 mg”.Saravanan and Mahesh allegedly processed and cleared the corresponding bills, enabling payments to the suppliers. CBI has alleged that the officials extended these favours in return for illegal gratification.The agency said funds allegedly reached the bank accounts of the officials from accounts linked to Ramanaiah, Venu Gopal, New SS Medical & General Stores and Chiranjeevi. The preliminary enquiry also found suspicious cash deposits, which were subsequently transferred to the accounts of other accused officials.According to the FIR, Venu Gopal allegedly carried out transactions with several persons outside CGHS, while Krishna Murthy allegedly received separate payments from another medicine supplier.The FIR does not specify the total amount allegedly paid as kickbacks, with the property and stolen-value fields left unspecified.The case has been registered under IPC Section 120-B and BNS Section 61(2), relating to criminal conspiracy, besides Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.