Asst director of Haffkine comes under ACB scanner…..AKELA
Assistant Director at Haffkine Institute,L S Patil,has come under the scanner of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) after it was alleged that he manipulated test results for money.
Haffkine Institute is a premier pharmaceutical and germology research institute where all suspected samples of food,drug or spurious liquor are sent for testing to ascertain their quality.
The institute handled massive number of samples during the H1N1 breakout in the city.Patil has been accused of making fraudulent reports for tests conducted on various liquor,toddy and pharmaceutical samples seized from companies on suspicion by agencies like the Food and Drug Administration,for money.Patil has also been alleged to have secured his position in the institute through connections,as he allegedly does not have the required qualifications.
However,Patil has refuted all the charges levelled against him saying the complaint is a conspiracy by his enemies.I have given my answer to the ACB and our director.I know who the complainants are.This is not new.I am facing such type of allegations for the past five years.My enemies do not want to see me on directors post.
When asked about his promotion,Patil said,I was promoted after a meeting held by the Governing Council found that I was eligible for the post. According to the ACB notice (a copy of which is available with Mumbai Mirror ),while signing on the reports of various tests conducted in the Haffkine Institute,Patil called up the concerned party,from whom the samples had been collected,and demanded money in order to make the report positive.He also allegedly demanded money for reports that had already come positive in a veiled threat that the report would either be delayed or turned into a negative one.It has also been alleged that at times even when the report was positive,he would inform the concerned party that report was negative and demand money to make it positive.On each report,Patil allegedly collected a minimum of Rs 5,000.The complaint also mentions that while discussing bribe amounts,Patil maintained that a majority of the sum would go to the minister of the concerned department and the rest would be distributed among all his colleagues.
Last month,ACB wrote a confidential letter to the director of Haffkine Institute,Dr Abhay Chaudhary,asking secret information about alleged corruption by Patil.The agency has also recorded statement of Patil and his colleagues.Confirming this,Chaudhary said,I received the ACB notice.
But currently,I am out of Mumbai and matter is under investigation so I can not share details with you. The complaint also alleges that Patil got an out-of-turn promotion without being qualified for it.Patil was promoted from the position of a Class III officer to Class II five years ago.
Within one year of the promotion,he managed to get the position of Class I officer.ACB sources said that he has also started a private company named Endu Herbals which is engaged in the production of a mosquito repellent.For this product he allegedly took a quality certificate from Haffkine itself.