Some contractual employees at the super-specialty hospital here nabbed four persons, including a lab employee, on Sunday and handed them over to police for allegedly duping patients and their kin by directing them to get medical tests done at private clinics instead of at the hospital.

Police released the quartet but the district health department has started probing into the charges, sources said.

Over the past few months, allegations were raised from different quarters that some hospital employees are working as touts of private laboratories and clinics.

Last week, Anjali Roy, a homemaker from Maynaguri, alleged that some people in the hospital had forced her to get her husband’s medical tests from a private laboratory.

She said that her husband had fever and had been admitted to the male medicine ward of the hospital. Doctors recommended that his blood be tested to find out if he had dengue.

“Soon after, a person approached me and said the test had to be done in a private lab. I had to pay Rs 2,700 for the tests. Later, I learnt the test is conducted free of cost at the hospital,” said the woman.

As the news spread, social organisations voiced their protests.

On Sunday, some ward boys and ward girls demonstrated at the hospital. They also intercepted four persons on hospital premises and alleged that the quartet were associated with the racket that forces patients and their relatives and forces them to get the tests done in private clinics to earn a commission.

A team from Kotwali police station reached the spot. The quartet were handed to police. They included an employee at the hospital’s lab, a private security guard, a casual worker and the owner of a private pathological lab.

“Time and again, such accusations are raised and all of us are blamed for being involved in the racket. That is why we took the step. The hospital, authorities, the district administration and the police should intervene and stop such illegal practices,” said a ward boy who didn’t want to be named.

Surajit Sen, superintendent of the hospital, said “If we receive any complaint in writing, we will surely take steps against the accused.

Fake currency

The special task force (STF) of the state police and Malda district police seized fake Indian currency notes (FICN) of around Rs 1.5 lakh in the past two days. On Friday late night the STF seized fake notes amounting to over Rs 99,000 from Rathbari under Englishbazar police station and arrested Rahul Kumar of Bihar and Lalu Sheikh of Kaliachak in this connection All the notes were in demoninations of Rs 500.

On Saturday, police raided a place at Baliadanga of Kaliachak and nabbed one Sajiruddin Biswas with Rs 50,000 in fake notes.