Worker fudges cheques to embezzle Rs 1.36cr at Jamnagar dental hospital; stole funds meant for patient welfare

RAJKOT: A contracted worker at Govt Dental College and Hospital in Jamnagar has been booked for allegedly embezzling over Rs 1.36 crore from funds for patient welfare and workers’ pay by fudging cheques over a five-month period, police said.

Jamnagar City B Division police registered an FIR against Shobhit Garg, a resident of Nand Kishor Apartments. Garg was working at the hospital under the National Health Mission, Gandhinagar.

Due to the lack of staff, Garg was entrusted with administrative and financial record-keeping of the hospital’s Rogi Kalyan Samiti (patient welfare committee), police said.

According to the FIR filed by Dr Sanjay Umraniya, a Class II tutor at the college, Garg abused his position between Nov 18, 2025, and April 2, 2026, to alter the amounts on the paycheques of outsourced workers.

Police said Garg cleared 15 cheques from the samiti’s bank account and diverted Rs 1.36 crore into his personal account instead of routing the funds to their intended recipients.

The embezzlement came to light on May 16, when a bank manager noticed unusually large credits into Garg’s personal account from the Rogi Kalyan Samiti. The manager informed a local doctor, Dr Kanusagar, who alerted the dean of the dental college.

The dean and a committee of senior doctors then summoned Garg for questioning. When his replies were evasive, the administration obtained the relevant bank statements, which revealed the 15 transactions, police said.

Garg has been booked under Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of govt funds.