Patna, Sept. 29: A Delhi police team has launched a manhunt for an associate professor of Patna Medical College and Hospital accused of duping the South Korean embassy in the national capital.
Dr Yashwant Singh, who teaches nephrology at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), has been charged with taking Rs 57 lakh from the embassy on the pretext of leasing out a building in Delhi.
The three-member Delhi police team, headed by Sandeep Panwar, visited Singh’s SK Nagar residence under Buddha Colony police station yesterday, but the doctor was not there. “Some Delhi police officers approached us, seeking help to arrest Singh,” said Buddha Colony station house officer Vinod Kumar.
Singh’s SK Nagar house is locked from outside. “A bank operates from one portion of the building,” a resident of the area told The Telegraph. He added he had not seen any member of the Singh family for several weeks.
Patna senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj said the Delhi police had not approached him (till 5pm today). But he promised to extend full co-operation to the team.
Though PMCH superintendent Dr O.P. Chaudhary confirmed Singh’s post, he feigned ignorance to the police team’s visit to the hospital. “I am not aware of any criminal offence that Dr Singh has committed,” he told The Telegraph over phone today. Principal Dr KNP Yadav said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on his number of years of service without going through the records.” Yadav could not confirm whether Singh is on leave or not.
Legal adviser of Embassy of Republic of Korea in Delhi Rohit Kumar said the embassy’s first secretary (culture and press), Kim Kum Pyoung, had lodged an FIR at Delhi against Singh under Section 420 (forgery and cheating) of the Indian Penal Code on June 8 this year. According to the FIR, Singh signed an agreement with the embassy to lease out all four floors of a Kailash Colony A Block house for 18 years.
After the agreement was inked, the embassy gave a Rs 57-lakh cheque to Singh, which was duly encashed. Singh promised to give possession of the property in three months. But when an embassy representative visited the house to install a telephone connection, a tenant, identified as Ashutosh Verma, objected. Verma told him that Singh had leased out the first floor of the building for three years on January 31, 2011 and the basement, ground and second floors for nine years.
Singh, when cornered later, had pledged to refund the advance amount by April 30 this year. Repeated notices to Singh went unheeded, prompting the embassy to lodge an FIR against him.
