SCB Medical College hematology head in the grip of the vigilance

Cuttack: SCB Medical College and Hospital Professor & HOD ,Clinical Hematology, Rabindra Jena was recently raided by the Vigilance officials on a tip-off of him having accumulated and being in possession of disproportionate assets. The vigilance, last Wednesday, conducted simultaneous raids at 12 places which included his residence and paternal house in Cuttack and Kendrapara districts to unearth the alleged wealth.

Professor Jena happens to head the department in the city's largest referral hospital. According to vigilance officials, Jena was being accused of having indulged in unethical medical practices, and also having taken on the position of lecturer, in clinical hematology, in SCB Medical College (SCB), on basis of some suspicious training certificate.

"There are also allegations that Dr Jena received many junkets from pharmaceutical companies and made several tours to foreign countries, funded by pharma companies, without availing appropriate government approval," told an official to the TOI. Jena is also alleged to have accumulated assets from this ill-gotten money.

Vigilance sleuths recovered gold and diamond studded jewelry from the bank locker of SCB Medical College and Hospital doctor RK Jena during their searches, on Thursday, reports Odisha TV.in

Official sources claimed that the jewelry weighed more than 400 grams and was worth Rs 12 lakh.The locker was being maintained jointly by Jena and his wife.

Vigilance sleuths during their course of raids also discovered that the HOD Prof Rabindra Kumar Jena also had Postal deposits amounting to Rs 14,54,541 in his family members' and his name, reports The Pioneer. The above amount the sleuths discovered has been deposited in the form of Recurring Deposits (RD), Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), and Savings Bank deposits (SB) at the SCB Medical College campus post office by him; a fact confirmed by the postal department officials.

He is also found to have constructed a building over an area of 1934 Sqft up to plinth level at BDA Plot No 226 at Chandrasekharpur in Bhubaneswar, assessed to cost Rs 8,25,000.

The officials also revealed that huge transactions had been made by Jena and his family members. A fact recovered through statements of Bank accounts at SBI Personal Banking Branch and SBI Medical Campus Branch, Mangalabag, Cuttack

The Vigilance officials are said to have traced movable and immovable property worth Rs 3.23 crore.

Offices of the Principal and Superintendent of SCB were also searched for verification of Jena's employment documents. His service book and files related to his job were examined by the anti-corruption wing officials, reports the TOI. The sleuths also raided the medical store and central store at SCB to establish the links of the professor with the pharmaceutical companies and the kind of favors dolled out by him to them.

The Principal of SCB, Dr Sidhartha Das said that the college authorities had provided all possible help to the department of vigilance in their searches, against the professor. "I cannot say anything on the issue now. The files related to Dr Jena's service were demanded by vigilance and we provided it," said Das to TOI.