A woman has been arrested for posing as a doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) here and duping a man of about ₹1 lakh on the pretext of expediting his daughter’s treatment, the police said on Wednesday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowdhary said a team nabbed Shubhi Trivedi, 27, near the AIIMS outpatient department, based on analysis of CCTV footage from the hospital and inputs from security guards. “During interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime,” she added.
According to the police, the action followed a complaint filed on April 18 by a man from Haridwar. The complainant alleged that during a visit to AIIMS on March 21 for his daughter’s treatment, the accused approached him claiming to be a ‘junior resident’ and wearing a white coat with her name stitched on it.
After Ms. Trivedi offered to expedite the treatment in exchange for ₹96,000, he paid the sum electronically and she told him to visit the hospital after 10 days, read the complaint.
However, the man said she neither picked up his subsequent phone calls nor could he find her at AIIMS. He soon approached the police and a case was registered under IPC Sections 419, 420 and 406 at the Hauz Khas police station.
Dr. Rima Dada, professor in-charge of media cell, AIIMS, confirmed that Ms. Trivedi was not employed at the hospital in any capacity. “She was caught by our security staff and handed over to the police,” she said, adding that the accused had been on the AIIMS security staff’s watch for over a month.
Dr. Dada told The Hindu that over the past few months, AIIMS authorities have caught over 100 touts and middlemen who take money from unsuspecting patients or their relatives with false promises of faster or better treatment.
“We are aware that many touts keep roaming around the hospital to cheat patients on various pretexts apart from treatment, such as cheaper medicines and tests. Since the last few months, we have increased our vigil, including deploying security persons in plainclothes, to catch such people,” she said.
Police sources said Ms. Trivedi, a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district, was arrested on Monday.
She is a graduate in Microbiology from a university in Bareilly and also holds a postgraduate degree in Forensic Science from a university in Greater Noida, they added. “She used to cheat people by posing as a junior resident in the AIIMS Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department,” the DCP said, adding that further investigation is under way.
Ms. Trivedi’s father, Bhuvnesh, who lives in Badaun, told The Hindu he was not aware of his daughter’s actions and the police have handed her over to a relative in Noida She is, however, being called for questioning regularly, the father said.
“I used to send her money for expenses. I am a heart patient and could not come to Delhi to handle things there,” he added.
Mr. Bhuvnesh, who works as an electronics repairman, said his daughter had recently secured admission at Amity University in Noida to pursue a PhD. “I don’t know what case the police have filed, but I don’t think my daughter can do something like this.”
A relative, who wished to remain anonymous, said Ms. Trivedi had told her family and friends around three-four years ago that she was working at AIIMS. “How could we have suspected something like this,” the relative said, adding that she had been living in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar.
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