A doctor from Rajawadi Hospital has lodged a complaint with the police stating that a person was trying to fleece people by offering beds at the hospital in exchange for money. The matter came to light after a social worker produced a call recording of the suspect, in which the latter claimed he could make available beds at the hospital for Rs 8,000. Following the complaint, the police have arrested the suspect, identified as Mayur Joshi, 25, who had recently joined the hospital on a contractual basis. He is a resident of Chembur Naka.
According to the Tilak Nagar police, an FIR was lodged in the matter by Dr Prajakta Goswami, 35, who has been working at Rajawadi Hospital for past ten years and is currently posted as the medical officer. On May 12, around 6pm, Goswami was called by Medical Superintendent Dr Vidya Thakur to her cabin.
“Dr Thakur informed Dr Goswami that a social worker, Avinash Kadam, had met her and informed her that there was someone fleecing people on the pretext of providing them beds in hospital in exchange for money. Kadam had told Dr Thakur that he had managed to get the number of the suspect and had called to verify the information. In his conversation with Kadam, the suspect had demanded Rs 8,000 from Kadam to get him a bed in the hospital,” the complaint has stated.
The complaint further said that Kadam had made Dr Thakur listen to the said conversation and requested action against the suspect. “Dr Thakur then made Dr Goswami hear the said conversation. The suspect could be heard saying that making a bed available in the hospital would cost money. The suspect further claimed in the call that a bed in a private hospital would cost around Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. When Kadam asked the suspect if he could obtain a bed at Rajawadi, the suspect told him it would cost Rs 8,000. Kadam then told the suspect that he would get back to him, after which the suspect told him to immediately confirm whether he required a bed, so that he could make required ‘setting’,” the complaint stated.
“We do not indulge in such malpractices and someone is trying to fleece patients and their relatives by demanding money for making beds available and is defaming the hospital as well as the municipal corporation. Hence, I am lodging a complaint against the unknown person with the police,” Dr Goswami stated in her complaint.
On May 13, police registered a case under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 501 (Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) and 511 (Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.
“The police have arrested one person who had joined us as a sweeper on contractual basis. Boards have been put up in the hospital premises warning people not to fall prey for such fraudsters,” Dr Thakur told The Free Press Journal.
“The hospital authorities had provided us mobile number of the suspect after which we identified the culprit. He claims this was the first time he had done something like this,” said Senior Police Inspector Sunil Kale of the Tilak Nagar police station.
