KOCHI: Days after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) suspended the membership of the managing director of Al-Shifa Hospital for Piles at Edappally, the city police on Thursday raided the hospital.
P.P. Shams, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara, who led the raid, said the action followed a complaint by the IMA as well as those by various private individuals. The raid began around 11.30 p.m. and continued till late evening.
“A case has been registered against Mr. Shahjahan Yousaf Sahib, the hospital’s MD, at the Elamakkara police station under IPC Section 420 for cheating. Based on further investigations, action will be invoked against him under the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act 1953 and other relevant acts against health care fraud,” Mr. Shams said.
During the raid, the police examined various documents, machinery, and stock of medicines at the hospital, besides collecting the statements of a couple of employees including a managerial staff member. “Considering the possibility of it [hospital] being shut down permanently and subsequent clearing of crucial evidence, we decided to inspect the area at the earliest,” the ACP added.
Further action against the hospital management will be initiated on the basis of a detailed verification of the documents collected and a report by the District Medical Officer.
An IMA-appointed inquiry committee had earlier found substance in allegations of forgery, false documentation, and cheating levelled against Shahjahan Yousaf Sahib, managing director of the hospital. Based on the finding, the association requested the State police, Indian Medical Council, and the Travancore Cochin Medical Council to conduct a detailed probe into the issue.
The inquiry revealed that Sahib had completed higher secondary education in 1992, but registered for homoeo diploma in 1987 with the Homoeo Medical Council. It also noted overlapping of dates of his house surgency and post-graduate training in Russia.
The inquiry was conducted following complaints from several patients who alleged that the hospital had no expertise and hence there were several complications.
