CBI registers case in Rajasthan ambulance scam

The CBI has registered a case in the alleged ambulance scam in Rajasthan in which Congress leaders, including former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former union minister Sachin Pilot, have been named, an official said on Friday.

A CBI statement said the probe agency has "registered a case on the request of the Rajasthan government and further directions from union government and taken over the investigation" of the case.

Earlier on June 10, a first information report was filed against Gehlot, Congress state unit president Pilot and six others in Ashok Nagar police station here on allegations of a scam in the running of the 108 ambulance service.

Police after conducting an inquiry into former Jaipur mayor Pankaj Joshi's complaint of July 31, 2013 decided to register a case against Gehlot, Pilot and others on charges of cheating and dishonesty, forgery of valuable security and forgery for purpose of cheating and party to a criminal conspiracy among others.

Joshi had alleged financial irregularities in operating '108' ambulance service during the previous Congress government.

The ambulance service is a part of the National Rural Health Mission and is a public-private partnership to ensure help for emergency patients.