Mumbai: A 12th-grade pass man who has posed himself as a doctor for the past 7 years has been arrested by the police from his clinic in Govandi, Mumbai.
If we have any difficult circumstances, we visit the temple and pray to God for help, and if we suffer from any health problems, it is the doctor who is our life savior. As health problems are rising, unqualified doctors are also rising, placing the lives of people on the edge. Recently, a 12th-pass man who posed himself as a doctor for the past 7 years has been arrested by the police from his clinic at Govandi.
Altaf Hussain Khan is a 50-year-old man living in Bainganwadi, located in Govandi, a suburb of Mumbai. Altaf Hussain completed his education up to 12th grade. But he posed himself as a doctor and deluded the neighborhood for the past 7 years. He had a clinic in the Shivaji Nagar area of Govandi.
Altaf Hussain has been arrested by the police in an operation. The crime branch unit 6, paired with the medical officers of Mumbai Eastward, executed a raid on Altaf’s clinic. These officers posed themselves as patients, including an MBBS doctor who visited the clinic. They saw Altaf treating and prescribing medicines to the patients, and he suggested that patients buy the medicines from a specific medical shop. These officers, as patients, faked health signs and asked him to specify medicines for their health problems. Unaware of the situation, the fake doctor prescribed medicines. On further inquiry, it was found that he is not registered with the medical council as he completed only the 12th grade. The police raided and confiscated his clinic immediately.
Shivaji Nagar police station registered an FIR against Hussain Khan under sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and further charges included section 33 (prohibition of medical practice by an unregistered person) and section 36 (prohibition against unauthorized use of titles such as MBBS and BAMS) of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act.
Similar kinds of cases have also been reported from different parts of the nation. The government should monitor the situation and adopt strict guidelines to protect the people from falling into the hands of fake medics.
(Input from various media sources)
(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina)