CBI arrests another DCI member; recovers 75 lakh in cash

CBI arrested second member of Dental Council of India and recovered nearly Rs 75 lakh allegedly received by him as bribe for granting permission to private colleges for running various courses.

Chennai: CBI on Friday arrested a second member of Dental Council of India and claimed to have recovered nearly Rs 75 lakh allegedly received by him as bribe for granting permission to private colleges for running various courses. This is the fifth arrest in the case.

Dr Gunaseelan Rajan was taken into custody on Friday, 10 days after the arrest of another DCI member Dr S Murukesan on a similar charge, CBI sources said Rajan did not respond to agency`s requests for questioning since Murukesan was arrested in Chennai while allegedly receiving bribe for granting approval to a private dental college to run post graduate courses, CBI sources said today. The alleged role of Rajan had surfaced during the questioning of Murukesan but despite repeated requests of the agency, Rajan did not appear before it, they said. Rajan was taken into custody today and during questioning, he gave inputs which led to recovery of Rs 75 lakh cash from a private person, they said. The sources said Rajan has allegedly recieved money from Murukesan on various occassion during 2012 for arranging approvals for various Dental Colleges to start post-graduate and other courses. Murukesan was arrested while allegedly accepting Rs 25 lakh as bribe from functionaries of Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital at his clinic on January 8. The sources said college had applied to DCI for granting permission to start a PG dental course in 2012. The DCI which conducted pre-verification inspection observed certain deficiencies and asked the college to correct them. CBI came to know that the college authorities had deputed an official to approach Murukesan in connection with the approval, they said. Three functionaries of the Melmaruvathur-based Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital had also been arrested from the DCI member`s dental clinic for allegedly offering the illegal gratification. Meanwhile, the CBI court today dismissed the bail plea of Murukesan and the three others -- K Ramabadran, R Karunanidhi and T Palani. PTI