Bengaluru: Three people were arrested for allegedly extorting Rs 1.2 lakh from the relatives of a Covid-19 patient to get an ICU bed in a reputed hospital, police said on Wednesday.

Police identified those arrested as Venkata Subba Rao, Manjunath and Punith.

According to police, Laxmidevamma, was diagnosed with Covid-19 and admitted to a private hospital in Nelamangala on the city outskirts.

She required higher medical treatment and was brought to People Tree hospital but there were no ICU beds available.

'At this point, Rao and Manjunath connived with Punith, who worked as Arogya Mitra (health worker) in MS Ramaiah Hospital in the city,' police said in a statement.

Arogya Mitra is the primary contact for the patients at every empanelled hospital, who coordinate with the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, an arm of the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The trio demanded Rs 1,20,000 from Lakshmisha, Laxmidevamma's son, to get a bed allotted in MS Ramaiah hospital.

Lakshmisha paid Rs 50,000 via Google Pay and Rs 70,000 in cash after which they were allotted a bed in MS Ramaiah hospital. However, Lakshmidevamma died a few hours later, the police said.

'Today, based on a complaint by Lakshmisha, a case was registered in Sadashivanagar police station. Three persons have been arrested and further investigation is continued,' police added.

The arrests came a day after Bengaluru South MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya alleged that there was a bed blocking scam in the city where the government officials and employees connive with hospitals to block the beds meant for Covid-19 patients, as ordered by the state government.

He said 4,065 hospital beds in private hospitals in Bengaluru were blocked by the scamsters.