In a significant move, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the residence of Om Prakash Singh Guddu, the former personal secretary of ex-Health Minister Banna Gupta, in connection with the Ayushman Bharat scheme scam. Singh’s house, located in Mango near Big Bazaar, was searched as part of an ongoing probe into alleged financial irregularities in the health insurance scheme.

Guddu’s residence is located at Nilgiri Colony behind Big Bazaar in Jamshedpur's NH-33 road. The Enforcement Directorate has raided several areas of Jamshedpur, but it has not been officially confirmed. ED officials questioned Om Prakash Singh Guddu's family members. The house was cordoned off and no one was allowed to go inside.

The raid was not limited to Singh’s residence. ED officials, accompanied by central paramilitary forces, also searched properties linked to Gupta and other key suspects, including consultants and former executives of associated firms.

In a simultaneous operation, locations of officials linked to the Jharkhand State Arogya Society (JSAS) and offices of Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) like MD India, Safeway, and Medi Assist were also searched. These firms were responsible for implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state.

As of now, no official response has been made by Banna Gupta or Om Prakash Singh regarding the ED action.

The ED’s probe stems from a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, which was recently presented in Parliament. The CAG report exposed major discrepancies in the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Jharkhand, including: Fake beneficiary registrations, Financial mismanagement in empaneled hospitals and Irregularities in claims processing by Third-Party Administrators

Following the revelations, the ED sought information from the Jharkhand Health Department and the Jharkhand State Health Society on the actions taken against those involved. In response, the Health Department provided details of FIRs filed against certain hospitals implicated in the scheme’s irregularities.

Based on these FIRs, the ED registered an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and launched an investigation into financial misconduct in the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Jharkhand. Friday’s raids were carried out after gathering crucial evidence against those suspected of fraudulently misusing government funds.

With the probe intensifying, more officials and entities linked to the scam are likely to come under the ED’s radar in the coming days. Ayushman Bharat is a flagship scheme of the Union government which aims to achieve universal health coverage for citizens.