Adilabad: Posing as medical technicians, an inter-state gang allegedly stole ventilators and other critical medical equipment from government hospitals in Telangana and Maharashtra and sold them through the second-hand medical equipment market.
Police said the racket came to light following the theft of four ventilators from the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad on October 30.
According to police, two men from Chandrapur in Maharashtra entered RIMS posing as technicians and allegedly stole four Mindray ventilators from the RICU and SAARI wards on the second floor of the hospital. They subsequently transported the equipment to Maharashtra and contacted a medical equipment sales and service dealer from Pragathi Nagar in Hyderabad to sell it.
Police said the dealer allegedly agreed to purchase the stolen equipment despite knowing its origin. The accused were intercepted near the Adilabad RTO Office while transporting the ventilators towards Hyderabad.
During interrogation, police reportedly found that the gang had also targeted government hospitals in other locations. The accused were allegedly involved in equipment thefts at government hospitals in Nagbhid and Wani in Maharashtra and Nizamabad in Telangana.
Police recovered another ventilator and an NST machine stolen from Nizamabad, a fetal monitor from Wani and a diathermy machine from Nagbhid, apart from the four ventilators stolen from RIMS.
The alleged thefts have raised concerns over security arrangements at government hospitals, particularly access control in critical care wards, and the verification process followed by second-hand medical equipment dealers before purchasing costly devices.
Theft of life-support equipment such as ventilators can also affect patient care by reducing the availability of essential devices in hospitals and potentially disrupting critical care services.
Police have arrested two persons, including the alleged buyer, while another accused remains absconding.