Pune: Pharmacist Held For Cheating Doctor Of ₹10.26 Lakh In Mukund Nagar

Pune Police has booked a pharmacist for allegedly cheating a doctor of ₹10.26 lakh by generating fake bills and misappropriating funds at a medical store in the Mukund Nagar area, officials said on Tuesday.

The alleged fraud took place between April 1, 2025, and February 19, 2026, at Swasth Medical, located in Business Court, Mukund Nagar.

According to the police, the complaint was filed by Dr Shripad Suryakant Pujari (55), a resident of Mukund Housing Society. Based on his complaint, a case has been registered at Swargate Police Station against Akash Ramdhan Dhage (26), a resident of Yewalewadi.

Police said that Dhage had been working as a pharmacist at the store for nearly three years. During this period, he allegedly misused promotional schemes offered by pharmaceutical companies. These schemes often include free medicines along with bulk purchases, for instance, additional tablets provided at no cost.

Instead of recording these free medicines in the official accounts, Dhage allegedly sold them to customers and collected payments directly into his personal bank account. In some cases, he also accepted cash payments without issuing proper bills, thereby bypassing the store’s accounting system.

Suspicion arose when Dr Pujari conducted an audit of the medical store through a chartered accountant and noticed consistent financial losses despite high sales volume. A detailed investigation into the accounts revealed discrepancies, leading to the discovery of the alleged embezzlement.

After the investigation, Dhage was terminated from his job, and an audit later confirmed that a total of ₹10,26,964 had been misappropriated.

Police Sub-Inspector Smita Patil of Swargate Police Station said that the accused has reportedly started a new shop in the Kondhwa area with a friend, and accordingly, he was cheating. Furthermore, the matter is under investigation.