Pus ‘extracted’ 153 times, Rs 6 L fees: How a fake doctor fleeced elderly man in Ahmedabad

On Tuesday, Dr Patil arrived with assistant Raju Patil at Saxena’s home, “diagnosed” that his knee was filled with pus, and got down to business. Saxena was told that he would be charged Rs 6,000 for each “extraction”. Once he was done, Dr Patil informed Saxena that he had to undergo 153 extractions and presented the elderly man with a staggering bill: Rs 7 lakh. After negotiations, the amount was brought down to Rs 6 lakh, which Saxena paid in cash to Raju.

Later in the day, during a phone call, Saxena shared his experience with his daughter. Hit by suspicion, the daughter did a quick Google search and found that no such doctor was present in any of the records.

Saxena has lodged a cheating complaint with the Isanpur police station.

Police sub-inspector DA Baranda of Isanpur police station said, “We have found that the accused is not a doctor and have sent out a team to arrest him. Investigation regarding the other accused persons is underway.”

In the FIR, Saxena wrote that on his way back from the restaurant, he was approached by a man who informed him that his relative had a similar problem and was cured after receiving treatment from a doctor.

Saxena dialled up the number provided and spoke to a man claiming to be Dr Patil who arrived at his residence with Raju.

In the FIR, Saxena stated that when he told Dr Patil that he did not have the kind of money he was charging, the latter told him to “deal with” his assistant before leaving the premises on the pretext of “another appointment”.

Saxena said that after negotiation, Raju told him that he would reduce the amount only if paid in cash. Saxena then went to the bank, withdrew Rs 6 lakh, and handed it over to Raju. Later that day, when Saxena spoke to his daughter, she grew suspicious and attempted to search for the hospital of Dr M Patil online. When no such hospital or doctor could be found, Saxena realised he had been cheated and filed the complaint, said police.