Semi-qualified doctors, lab technician performing surgery: Police bust racket at South Delhi clinic

Eight complaints stemming from cases of post-surgery deaths are pending against the clinic with the Delhi Medical Council along with two complaints with the Delhi Police; the clinic has been in operation since 2009.

While all three doctors had MBBS degrees, only Dr Jaspreet, the police said, had a Master of Surgery (MS). However, he had never performed a surgical procedure himself and used to create fake surgical notes to validate the procedures, they added.

Besides Mahender, the doctors also used to allow “other inexperienced people” to perform surgeries in lieu of small payments, police alleged.

According to police, Aggarwal used to offer surgeries, including removal of gall bladder stones and neurosurgery, charging patients between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 with the promise of completing the procedure within 15 to 20 minutes.

Their latest victim was a patient named 44-year-old Jai Narayan, a resident of Garhi, East of Kailash, who was operated upon at the clinic for removal of his gall bladder stone. He died in October.

However, the lid off the racket was blown by a procedure performed at the clinic in 2022 itself.

DCP (South) Chandan Choudhary said that on October 10, a complaint from the wife of Asgar Ali, Naseeb Ul Nisha, a resident of Sangam Vihar, was received at the Greater Kailash Police Station alleging that on September 19 last year, she took her husband to Aggarwal Medical Centre at GK-1 for the removal of his gall bladder stone. The complaint was forwarded by the Delhi Medical Council.

“Before commencement of surgery, the director of the Hospital…stated that the surgery will be conducted by a ‘famous surgeon’ namely Dr Jaspreet Singh. But right before the surgery, Dr Aggarwal said that Dr Jaspreet Singh will not be able to perform the surgery due to some urgency and now, Dr Mahendra Singh will conduct the surgery,” said the DCP.

Dr Aggarwal then introduced Mahendra, the lab technician, to the complainant. “…the complainant stated that the surgery of her husband was conducted by Dr Mahender Singh, Dr Neeraj Aggarwal and Dr Pooja,” said the officer.

Police further said that the complainant later got to know that “Dr Mahender Singh” was actually a lab technician and that Dr Pooja was also not a qualified surgeon. Ali was rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead; a case under sections for punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy was lodged.

Police later found that on the day of Ali’s surgery in September last year, Dr Jaspreet Singh was not present at the clinic and was later found to have prepared fake documents regarding the surgery.

According to the police, eight other complaints, dating back to 2016, alleging death by negligence through “botched up surgeries” are already pending with the Delhi Medical Council against the centre.