Berhampur: The Ganjam district administration on Thursday raided the MKCG Medical College and Hospital here after allegations about the presence of commission agents of various private nursing homes, diagnostic centres, pathology labs and even medicine stores.

Touts allegedly lure away patients or their attendants from the state-run hospitals to private health care facilities.

"We nabbed three touts from the MKCG Medical College and Hospital on Thursday and handed them over to BNPur police," said Berhampur sub-collector Siddhartha Shankar Swain.

"There were allegations that agents and touts of various agencies were swarming the patients when one entered MKCG compound, and they always tried to motivate them and their attendants to leave the government hospital and admit themselves in a particular nursing home or purchase medicine from a shop outside the hospital premises. Berhampur tehsildar Ranjit Kumar Parida and his team raided three wards - orthopaedic, medicine and surgery - when the three touts were soliciting patients and their attendants. We will continue such surprise raids in the future," said Swain.

BNPur police station inspector-in-charge J.K. Patnaik said the three persons - Prasant Kumar Panda, Sanjaya Kumar Bishoyi and Raja Rao Dora - were released on personal bond after they had given an undertaking.

Prasant works in a medicine shop adjoining the MKCG hospital on monthly pay basis. "On Thursday, I was in surgery ward and approaching the patients whose prescribed medicines are not available in the Niramaya store. I promised 10 to 12 per cent subsidy on the medicine. This I have been doing since past eight months," said Prasant.

Similarly, Sanjay and Raja claimed to be workers of a private diagnostic centre nearby. "We were approaching the patients in the orthopaedic ward to opt for digital X-ray for better result which was not available in the MKCG. We have not defrauded any patients," said Sanjay.