Surat, Oct 29 — As many as nine fake doctors were apprehended during simultaneous raids on clinics in the Dindoli area of Surat on Thursday, with the police and health department seizing medicines, injections, syrups and medical equipment worth around Rs 95,000, officials said on Thursday.
The raids were conducted jointly by the Surat City Special Operations Group (SOG) and teams from the District Health Department after dummy patients were sent to the clinics to verify information that individuals without recognised medical qualifications were treating patients.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (SOG) Rajdeepsinh Nakum told IANS that the operation had been planned in coordination with the office of the Chief District Health Officer, Dr Anil Patel.
“Raids were planned from the morning by the SOG and the Chief District Health Officer’s team. Several locations were raided simultaneously, and nine bogus doctors were apprehended,” Nakum said.
He said the accused had different educational backgrounds, including schooling up to Classes 10 and 12, a Bachelor of Arts degree and training in electropathy.
However, they were allegedly practising as doctors without the required recognised medical qualifications.
“Some of them were earning Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 a day and were practising as bogus doctors. The SOG and Health Department teams carried out an intensive operation and apprehended all of them,” he added.
According to the police, the accused were identified as Rohit Patil, Parmanand Patel, Aartidevi Maurya, Mahesh Rajput, Kamalaprasad Gond, Sopan Patil, Manoharlala Kumawat, Dinesh Bharti and Kishor Vishwas.
The police said Patil had allegedly been running Mauli Clinic in Navagam of Dindoli for three years and had previously worked as a compounder at a hospital in Sangamner.
He was also arrested in Aurangabad of Maharashtra, in 2024 in a case involving the alleged sale of fake pregnancy medicines.
Patel had allegedly operated Manisha Clinic for five years, while Maurya, who had studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree, had run Aashi Clinic for one-and-a-half years.
She had previously worked as a nurse at Amardeep Hospital in Godadara of Surat for five years, according to the police. Rajput had allegedly run Maya Clinic for eight years, while Gond had operated Krishna Clinic for 10 years.
Gond had reportedly worked as a compounder at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh. Sopan Patil had allegedly operated Shree Sai Clinic for seven years and had studied electropathy.
Kumawat, who had studied pharmacy, had reportedly run Shree Radhekrishna Clinic for six months. Bharti had allegedly operated Sahgar Clinic for three years, while Vishwas had run Sadguru Sant Kripal Clinic for six years.
Both had studied up to Class 12 and had previously worked at other clinics or hospitals. The police said the accused had allegedly earned between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,500 a day through their practices.
The raids followed instructions from Surat Police Commissioner Wabang Jamir to identify clinics being run by people without medical degrees or on the basis of allegedly fabricated qualifications.
SOG teams, acting under the supervision of DCP Nakum and the supervision of Police Inspector A.S. Sonara, conducted checks across the city before verifying the information about the Dindoli clinics.
The seized material was valued at Rs 95,138. Cases have been registered against the nine accused at Dindoli police station.
"The District Health Department will initiate separate proceedings under the Clinical Establishments Act," officials said.