The investigation into an alleged ₹700-crore medical procurement scam involving the Delhi Health Department has taken a serious turn, with pharmaceutical trader Rajiv Rangila, one of the key accused, reportedly fleeing the country. Investigators say Rangila failed to cooperate with the probe and ignored multiple notices for questioning, and believe he left India only days after obtaining anticipatory bail in an unrelated criminal case.
How the Alleged Scam Was Structured
The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch alleges Rangila, 50, was a central conspirator who created shell companies using fictitious owners to influence the government procurement process, colluding with medical equipment manufacturers to fix supply rates and allegedly arranging cash kickbacks tied to government contracts. According to the FIR, he floated several fake firms, including F Med Devices, Technocrats, Raj Shree, Ashi Surgical and Pharmaceuticals, and M Sahib and Sons, which were shown as authorised distributors of selected manufacturers to qualify for tenders whose specifications were allegedly drafted specifically to favour them.
The scale of the alleged overpricing has become a political flashpoint. AAP leader and former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that X-ray machines available in the open market for around ₹10 lakh were purchased by the Delhi government for nearly ₹33 lakh each, and that a tender initially floated for just two machines was later used to procure as many as 448 units at the same inflated rate. The FIR separately alleges that prices of several medical items were inflated by 200 to 500 percent, resulting in substantial losses to the public exchequer through funds earmarked for medicines, surgical supplies and hospital equipment.
An Unrelated Bail Order That Opened a Window to Flee
According to officials, Rangila was granted anticipatory bail on June 30 in a separate case registered at Laxmi Nagar Police Station in East Delhi, involving allegations of assault, wrongful confinement, theft and criminal intimidation. The complainant alleged Rangila and his family called him to their residence, wrongfully confined and assaulted him, and took his mobile phone, car keys and wallet. Police had added provisions covering wrongful confinement and extortion during that investigation, but the court granted bail after finding the material on record did not sufficiently establish the more serious offences invoked.
Police have clarified that this Laxmi Nagar case is unrelated to the medical procurement fraud, describing it instead as stemming from personal financial disagreements and private enmity that the complainant characterised as extortion. The ACB continues to investigate Rangila’s alleged role in the procurement scam entirely independently, though the timing, his departure from India coming within days of securing bail in the separate matter, has drawn scrutiny over whether that window was deliberately exploited.
A Widening Search and Unanswered Political Questions
Officials said Rangila repeatedly failed to appear before investigators despite being served multiple notices, prompting the ACB to carry out extensive search operations across Delhi-NCR and Uttarakhand on July 2. Raids were conducted at more than eight locations, including a shop in Laxmi Nagar, but the accused could not be traced. Investigators have identified a farmhouse in Karnal and another property in Rishikesh believed to be linked to Rangila, both now under scrutiny, and are reportedly planning to issue a Look Out Circular to prevent any further movement across borders.
The case has also become a point of political contention. Bharadwaj has publicly questioned why the ACB delayed action against Rangila while pursuing lower-level employees, alleging Rangila had wielded influence within the Health Department for years and effectively controlled aspects of the procurement process, though he stopped short of claiming direct evidence of political patronage, calling it instead “a game of money and brokerage.”
Several senior officials connected to the Delhi Health Department and the Central Procurement Agency have already been arrested in the case, including former Director General of Health Services Dr. Vatsala Aggarwal, former CPA Deputy Controller of Accounts Neeraj Chopra, and former CPA Head of Office Dr. Vinod Kumar Ranga, all currently in judicial custody. The case originated from an FIR registered in early June following a Vigilance Department inquiry, and investigators are now examining Rangila’s travel history, financial transactions, and the possible involvement of other associates as the search for the fugitive trader continues.
