Fake doctor, who prescribed medicines, arrested by police

Mumbai: An uneducated man who ran a clinic posing as a doctor and prescribed medicines after watching videos on the Internet was arrested by the Nehru Nagar police on Monday. The day before on Sunday, the police arrested the fake doctor’s compounder whose inputs helped it nab the accused from Uttar Pradesh (UP). This is the fourth such case in the past four months.

The police said that Jamal Sharafat Hussain (45) is uneducated and never wrote his name or signed on any of the prescriptions. The police searched Hussain’s house and clinic but was unable to find any certificate indicating his educational qualification.

A police officer said, “Hussain’s father used to run an Ayurvedic medicine Navbahar clinic in Kurla (west) but he died two years ago. Hussain initially continued running his father’s clinic, later beginning to give allopathic treatment to his patients.”

The Nehru Nagar police initiated action after receiving a complaint end-January from a mechanic who lost Rs 5,000 during treatment from Hussain.

PSI Sarjerao Patil of Nehru Nagar police station said, “We immediately started an investigation and sent dummy patients to Hussain’s clinic. The information that we got about him was shocking. He used to prescribe medicines by watching You Tube and Google. Hussain does not even know how to read and write, save for his own name. On Sunday, we also arrested Sarfraz Hussain (38), who worked as a compounder for the fake doctor.”

PSI Patil added, “Till now, we have been able to track down three more patients who were cheated by Hussain. We have arrested the fake doctor and his compounder for cheating and endangering the lives of others under sections 420 and 336 of the IPC.”