Two more saffron activists arrested in bed blocking scam

Bengaluru, May 27: Two more people were arrested in connection with a scam related to blocking beds meant for Covid-19 patients in Bengaluru hospitals including private ones, police said.

The police have identified the accused as Yashwanth and Varun. It is said that both were saffron activists and supporters of BJP.

With the two arrests, the total number went up to 11, police said.

"Varun worked in the South zone war room helpline, who shared patient numbers with his friend Yashwanth. Yashwanth used to contact the patient and demand money," police said in a statement.

Two days ago, Babu, the mastermind of the bed blocking scam in the Bengaluru South zone, was arrested by the police.

He was running a racket with Nethravathi and Rohit Kumar, who were previously arrested for blocking the beds and allotting them by taking bribes from the patients or their kin.

Babu is allegedly an aide of a BJP MLA.

The Karnataka government has ordered reserving 80 per cent beds in the private hospitals for Covid patients in view of the alarming rise in infections in the state, especially in Bengaluru.

However, many hospitals ran short of beds.

To streamline the bed allotment, the BBMP Covid war room handled the bed allotment as well.

The bed blocking scam came to light when the Bengaluru South BJP MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya alleged that there was large-scale irregularities.

During a live streaming of his expose, he had sought to know from the BBMP officers why Muslims have been hired in the BBMP war room and read out the names of 16 Muslim staff employed in the war room. 

The BJP MLA Ravi Subramanya, who accompanied Surya even alleged the BBMP wanted to convert the war room into a 'Madrassa'.