KATHMANDU: Police have arrested Rajan Sah, the operator of the Civil Human and Research Center in Rautahat, for running an unregistered hospital. Sah was detained on Monday morning, two days after Madhesh Province Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh discovered the facility's unregistered status during an inspection.

The hospital had been instructed to cease operations until it was properly registered, but Sah defied the order and continued to run the facility. DSP Rajkumar Rai from the Area Police Office Chandranigahapur confirmed the arrest, stating that Sah was detained for disregarding the official notice.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Singh conducted an inspection of 11 private hospitals in Chandranigahapur, discovering that 10 of them were unregistered. Santosh Thakur, a member of the inspection committee, revealed that only Chandrapur Hospital Pvt. Ltd. was found to have the necessary operating permit.

Following the inspection, several private hospitals and clinics, including Civil Human and Research Center, Highway Trauma Hospital and Research Center Pvt. Ltd., Apollo City Hospital, Public Life Care Polyclinic, Chapur City Hospital, Himalaya Polyclinic, Namaste Dental Clinic, Chandrapur Community Hospital, Chandrapur Orthopedic Hospital, and Chandrapur Eye and Dental Treatment Center, were ordered to shut down.

The illicit operations of healthcare facilities in the area were put under serious scrutiny by the inspection, with many questioning the registration and operating permits for these healthcare facilities. Authorities are now acting to ensure that all medical facilities comply with the relevant regulations.

This also marks the continuation of the government's effort toward controlling private healthcare services to ensure that patients are provided care only in lawfully accredited hospitals.