Ahmedabad: A local court on Sunday sent Rajshree Kothari, 59, one of the accused in the Khyati Hospital angioplasty deaths case, to 10-day police remand. A month after the deaths, which led to three FIRs against the accused, the city crime branch arrested Kothari in Kota, Rajasthan, on Friday night.
Kothari, the hospital’s director, who fled to Udaipur with her husband Pradip Kothari, was the eighth accused to be arrested in the case. The crime branch sought her remand for 10 days, alleging that she was aware of the entire conspiracy and in touch with the other accused even after the angioplasty deaths came to light. The local court granted the crime branch its request.
“A total of 5,637 people underwent medical checks at the camps held by Khyati Hospital in 69 villages in three years. Between Sep 1, 2021, and Oct 28, 2024, 8,534 patients underwent treatment there, out of which 3,842 were govt scheme beneficiaries. Of these, 112 beneficiaries died,” the remand plea stated.
It said that the families of Rajshree Kothari, a resident of Aaditya Bungalows in Thaltej, and Kartik Patel, the owner of the hospital, share close ties and have known each other since 2007. Kothari and Patel have been partners in the hospital business since 2021.
“Rajshree Kothari has a 3.61% share in the hospital, and she was part of the conspiracy to fraudulently obtain funds from the PM-JAY scheme. As she had been absconding for so many days, it is pertinent to find out who provided her with the logistical support to evade arrest. She was also aware of how to exploit govt schemes for money. She needs to be interrogated,” states the city crime branch’s remand plea.
It further said, “We need to know the minutes of at least seven meetings held between the directors in the past two years. Her interrogation could lead us to the whereabouts of the other accused. The accused is educated, experienced, and aware of the law, due to which she will not easily tell the truth about the crime. It is very important to collect crucial information from the accused in the larger public interest.”
