New Delhi: A former director-general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the deputy controller of accounts (DCA) of the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) were arrested on Saturday in connection with alleged irregularities in the procurement of medicines, medical equipment and consumables, an anti-corruption branch (ACB) officer said on Sunday.Both accused were produced before a city court on Saturday, which remanded them to one day of police custody. (Representational image)Both accused were produced before a city court on Saturday, which remanded them to one day of police custody, the officer said.With the arrest of the former director-general, Dr Vatsala Agarwal and Neeraj Chopra, the deputy CPA, the total number of arrests in the alleged corruption and criminal conspiracy case has reached three.On June 18, Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, the former head of the CPA’s office, was arrested by the ACB and produced before the court, which remanded him to four days of police custody.The ACB had registered a first information report (FIR) in the case on June 2 under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The arrests were made weeks after the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) conducted searches at the CPA office and filed a complaint alleging serious irregularities in the agency’s procurement processes.ACB chief Vikramjit Singh said a complaint was received from the DoV regarding alleged large-scale irregularities in the procurement of medicines, surgical consumables, other consumables, and medical equipment by the CPA under DGHS.“It was alleged that certain public servants and private persons manipulated procurement processes, tender conditions, and technical specifications to provide undue advantage to selected firms and suppliers, causing loss to the government exchequer and corresponding wrongful gain to private persons,” said Singh.The allegations relate to the procurement of portable X-ray machines, C-Arm radiological equipment, anaesthesia workstations, oral rehydration solution (ORS), surgical consumables and medicines, and other products. Investigators suspect that several items were procured at “highly inflated rates” through allegedly manipulated tendering processes.An officer aware of the matter, who asked not to be identified, said “tailor-made technical specifications” were allegedly framed to benefit selected vendors, while genuine competitors were excluded from the bidding process.During Dr Ranga’s custodial interrogation, examination of records, documents, and other materials, the roles of Dr Agarwal and Chopra emerged.The probe also revealed that procurement proposals, approval of tender specifications, constitution of procurement committees, approval of procurement methodology and other important procurement decisions were processed and approved at different levels. “Investigation has revealed that procurement proposals involving substantial government funds were processed through the accounts branch of CPA, and financial scrutiny, processing of bills and release of payments were undertaken through the office of the DCA,” added the ACB chief.Agarwal’s lawyer, Yasharth Shukla, refused to comment on the matter.Last year, the Health and Family Welfare Department’s vigilance branch had sought a response from the state-run Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI) over a complaint claiming the role of Dr Agarwal in the alleged irregularities in faculty recruitment at the DSCI.(With inputs from Ridhima Gupta)