According to civic officials, the worker, Sayanna Pappaya Dhangar, had been pilfering hospital waste for the last eight years. The waste, which should have been destroyed immediately after use, was discovered by the officials at Dhangar's house following a tip off about an organised racket in purchasing and recycling clinical waste.

Dhangar, they allege, was part of an organised racket of supplying recycled saline bottles and syringes to the market. Investigations by the civic staff revealed that Dhangar would pilfer the hospital waste, clean the bottles and syringes with soap assisted by his wife and sell it to an individual whose identity is yet to be established.

Meanwhile, the civic official in-charge has called forstringent laws to make it mandatory for hospitals to make fool-proof arrangements for waste disposal.