A 37-year-old imposter, who had been fleecing patients at AIIMS, was caught by Safdarjung hospital authorities on Monday. He was handed over to police.
However, the accused Avinash Anand told police he is a PhD in Yoga and was at the hospital to meet a patient from his village who is undergoing treatment there.
“We are verifying the allegations of the hospital and the man is being questioned. No case has been registered as of now,” said a senior police officer.
Dr Balvinder Singh, assistant professor at orthopaedic department of Safdarjung Hospital said Anand claimed to be an associate professor at AIIMS Trauma Centre and even carried an ID card with the institute’s logo.
“last Saturday, he brought a patient in my OPD and requested us to admit him. He introduced himself as an associate professor in the Orthopaedic department at AIIMS trauma Centre and said the patient was from his village. When we asked about the patient’s course of treatment, he started floundering, leading to suspicion over authenticity of him being a doctor,” Dr Singh said.
Singh said they admitted the patient and meanwhile tried to verify if there was a doctor by this name at AIIMS Trauma Centre.
“There was no doctor by that name in the department at AIIMS. So we asked the patient to call Anand today. When Anand came, we handed him over to police,” Singh said. The doctor said that many bank deposit slips have been recovered from Anand.
The Medical Superitendent of Safdarjung hospital has already given a complaint to Safadarjung Encalve police station in this regard.