NEW DELHI: Delhi Police claimed to have arrested four people, including two “doctors” who were allegedly performing surgeries without holding the requisite qualifications. The syndicate, the cops said, operated from a nursing home in E block of south Delhi’s Greater Kailash I.
According to Chandan Chaudhary, DCP (South), Dr Niraj Agarwal (MBBS), owner of Agarwal Medical Centre, his wife, Pooja Agarwal, lab technician Mahender Singh and Dr Jaspreet Singh (MBBS), who used to prepare fake surgery notes, were arrested.
Police have written to the Indian Medical Association to cancel the licence of Agarwal Medical Centre.
The cops received a complaint on October 10 last from a woman who alleged that she had taken her husband to the Agarwal Medical Centre for gallbladder stone removal. “Before commencement of surgery, the hospital director Niraj Agarwal said that the surgery would be conducted by a famous surgeon named Dr Jaspreet Singh. Just before the surgery, Dr Agarwal claimed that Dr Jaspreet could not come due to some urgency and Dr Mahender Singh would conduct the surgery,” Chaudhary said.
While Agarwal introduced Mahender, a nurse present at that time introduced Dr Pooja to the complainant. The complainant alleged that later she came to know that Mahender and Pooja were not doctors.
After the operation, her husband complained of severe pain and was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Accordingly, a case was registered and investigation initiated.
During the probe, it was discovered that on the date of the surgery, September 19, 2022, Jaspreet Singh was not present at the hospital. He had allegedly prepared fake documents regarding the surgery of the deceased, the cops claimed.
Meanwhile, on October 27, another patient was operated at the centre for the removal of a gallbladder stone and died of complications. Another FIR was registered and the probe taken up. DCP Chaudhary said, “On November 1, a medical board comprising four doctors was called to examine the alleged medical centre and several shortcomings and deficiencies were noted. It was found that the accused frequently prepared fake documents pertaining to the treatment and surgery of the patients.”
The cops then obtained the autopsy report of the patient whose death they were probing and his viscera and histopathological reports from the forensics department. They were sent to AIIMS for a final opinion on the cause of death. The DCP said, “AIIMS said in its report that the cause of death was haemorrhagic shock as a complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy which was performed at the medical centre.”
After collecting evidence, police arrested the four accused in the two registered cases and seized a lot of incriminating material. “The seizures included 414 prescription slips containing only signatures of the doctor with considerable empty space at the top. We also seized two registers containing details of patients whose medical termination of pregnancy was conducted at Agarwal Medical Centre,” police said in a statement.
The cops also seized banned injections, expired surgical blades and 54 ATM cards and cheque books related to 47 banks.
Rajpal Singh, municipal councillor of the Sriniwaspuri ward, said his uncle’s son, Jai Narayan, 42, was admitted to Agarwal Medical Centre on October 26 for a stone removal surgery. The following day Narayan was taken away for surgery but declared dead sometime later. “Strangely, he was taken for the surgery in the clothes he was wearing at the time,” said Rajpal Singh. “They came and informed us that Narayan had a cardiac arrest and died. We did not believe them and informed the cops. His post-mortem was conducted at AIIMS by a panel of doctors who opined that he died due to excessive bleeding.” Narayan is survived by his wife and two children aged 21 and 14 years and was the breadwinner of the family, according to the councillor.
