Two arrested for stealing ventilators from Adilabad RIMS hospital
Police recovered four ventilators and Rs 1 lakh in cash following an inter-state medical equipment theft racket.
Police arrested two people for allegedly stealing four ventilators from the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad on October 30, according to ThePrint and Telangana Today. The suspects, identified as Sajjan Basanth Mote, a medical equipment technician from Maharashtra, and Medam Konda Reddy, a medical equipment trader from Hyderabad, were apprehended during vehicle checks near the Adilabad Regional Transport Office (RTO).
The police stated that Sajjan Basanth Mote and an accomplice, Abhijit, entered the hospital while posing as medical technicians. They allegedly removed the ventilators from the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit and the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection ward on the second floor. Abhijit is currently absconding.
During interrogation, the accused revealed they had committed similar thefts at government hospitals in Nizamabad, Telangana, and in Maharashtra. Police said the stolen equipment from those locations was also sold to Konda Reddy in Hyderabad. Reddy allegedly knew the equipment was stolen and travelled to Chandrapur to purchase it.
Authorities recovered the four ventilators from RIMS, one ventilator and an NST machine from a Nizamabad hospital, and a fetal monitor and diathermy machine from two Maharashtra hospitals. Officers also seized Rs 1 lakh in cash, a motorcycle, a car, and mobile phones.
Adilabad District Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhil Mahajan described the theft of life-saving equipment as a serious offence. Police are continuing efforts to trace the absconding accused.