Himachal health 'scam': Court extends police custody of Punjab firm employee till Friday

A court on Thursday extended by a day the police custody of the Punjab firm employee arrested in connection with a bribery case involving the director of health services in Himachal Pradesh. The court had earlier remanded him in police custody for five days till June 11. Director (Health Services) Ajay Kumar Gupta was arrested on May 20 over allegations of corruption in the purchase of health equipment.

A 43-second audio recording had surfaced online, in which Gupta purportedly asked for a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from the arrested employee, Prithvi Singh. Even, state BJP president Rajeev Bindal had to resign from his post on ‘moral grounds’ as he was close to Singh, a liasioning officer of Dera Bassi-based firm Bio Aid in Punjab. Singh was arrested by the Himachal Pradesh State Vigilance Bureau on June 6.

Extending his custody, Special Judge Arvind Malhotra directed the Vigilance Bureau to produce him in the court on Friday, when his bail petition is listed for hearing. On June 7 too, he had applied for a bail but the petition was withdrawn at the last moment. Meanwhile, now suspended director Ajay Kumar Gupta's wife also moved an anticipatory bail application in the matter, which is listed for Friday in the same court, Vigilance Bureau SP Shalini Agnihotri said.