Bengaluru 'bribe for bed': Siddaramaiah touts scam as an 'attempt to protect BJP bosses'

Congress leader Siddaramaiah accused BJP MP Tejasvi Surya of unearthing the 'bribe for bed' scam involving BBMP officials to 'protect the image of his political bosses' and demanded to know why the South Bengaluru MP stayed silent on the matter despite knowing about it ten days earlier. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya alleged irregularities in the allotment of beds to COVID patients in Bengaluru and accused the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) war room officials of running a racket to falsely book beds in return for money.

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah claimed that the BJP Yuva Morcha president, along with MLAs Ravi Subramanya & Satish Reddy, should have conducted a 'sting operation' on CM Yediyurappa, his ministers, BJP MLAs and MPs and stated that the BBMP officers & workers are just scapegoats.

Congress' Siddaramaiah claimed that he had 'exposed the corruption' of the Karnataka government on multiple occasions in the past since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic with evidence. The former Karnataka CM challenged Tejasvi Surya to urge CM Yediyurappa to launch an investigation into allegations leveled by the BJP MP and the Congress party. '

Siddaramaiah went on to question the delay in Tejasvi Surya exposing the scam and asked if he had been 'negotiating a deal with BBMP officers' or if he 'was preparing a script to protect BJP leaders' of the state. 

Tejasvi Surya unearths 'bribe for bed scam'

Even as Bengaluru has witnessed a steady increase in the demand for hospital beds, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya claimed to have unearthed a scam in the allotment of beds by the BBMP war room officials and accused them of falsely booking beds that are mean for COVID positive patients in exchange for money. The BJP MP claimed that over 4065 beds in Bengaluru have been booked illegally so far and detailed on the modus operandi of the scam, noting that beds were falsely allotted for 12 hours during which BBMP officials allegedly attempted to 'sell the beds'.

On Tuesday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya along with MLAs Sathish Reddy and Uday Garudachar confronted the BBMP war-room officials regarding the racket following which the bed allotment scam case was later on handed over to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for investigation. The BJP leaders accused the BBMP war-room officials of allotting beds, meant for COVID positive patients, to asymptomatic patients and charging Rs 40,000 for blocking a bed. The BJP MP and the MLAs questioned the civic body officials on how beds could be blocked for the admission of a new patient within thirty seconds of the previous patient who was discharged. 

Further, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya accused the war-room personnel of being related to each other and questioned the 'hiring process' of 17 individuals and the whereabouts of the agency that they belonged to. Addressing a press conference, Tejasvi Surya said that there were enough beds in Bengaluru city but none of them were available to people as war room personnel have been running a racket of false blocking beds and then allotting them to those they please. The BJP Yuva Morcha president claimed that there was a nexus between certain BBMP officials, Aarogya Mitra hospitals and private agents who were indulging in the 'bribe for bed' scam.  

CM Yediyurappa vows 'severe action'

After MP Tejasvi Surya's 'bribe for beds' scam expose, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa said that severe action would be taken against those involved in the racket. Later in the evening, Bengaluru city Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said that the case, which was lodged at Jayanagar Police Station and in which two accused were arrested for fraud, had been handed over to the CCB for an in-depth investigation. An FIR of bed blocking was registered at Jaynagar police station under crime number 83/21 and agents Rohit and Netra arrested in the case. The duo booked under sections 420 and 384 of the IPC and reportedly sold ICU beds to the patients, charging them Rs 50,000 per bed. Police also seized 1,05,000 from their bank account while further investigations are on.