Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch today arrested Dr Motilal Gouda, suspended assistant director of Directorate of Factories and Boilers (Medical), from a location outside Odisha in connection with the case of issue of a fake notification asking industries in the State to get health check-ups of their staff done at one of five 'empanelled’ pathology laboratories.
The Crime Branch had formed a four-member team four days ago to keep track on Gouda.
Gouda was absconding since his involvement in the issuance of the fake gazette notification came to the fore. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Orissa High Court a few days back.
Pictures splashed in the media had shown Gouda having a ball with ruling party MLAs and ministers and set tongues wagging about the close relationship he apparently enjoyed with ruling party politicians..
Notably, on November 17, 2015, the State government had removed 408 medical officers from government service for remaining ‘absent from duty for a long period unauthorisedly and willfully.’ Gouda’s name had appeared in the list at serial number 355.
Curiously, Gouda was working as the Assistant director in the Department of Factories (Medical), which functions under the Labour department, when he was sacked and continued to do so till a scam perpetrated by him sealed his fate.
A month before being sacked by the Health department, Gouda allegedly issued a fake notification asking industries in the state to get the health check-ups of their staff done at one of the five ’empanelled’ pathology laboratories. Based on this notification, he even managed to sign a contract worth Rs 63 lakh with Navaratna PSU Nalco and was in the process of signing another contract worth Rs 1.02 crore when his game was up.