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Hyderabad: Six people posing as qualified doctors and running unauthorised clinics across the Secunderabad zone here have been apprehended, with police seizing fake medical certificates, expired medicines, injections and other equipment used to treat unsuspecting patients, officials said on Tuesday, August 25.

The Commissioner’s Task Force, Secunderabad Zone, along with the Ramgopalpet, Chilkalguda, OU Sity and Domalguda police stations, carried out raids at multiple clinics based on credible information, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vaibhav Gaikwad Raghunath. 

The accused allegedly administered intervenes (IV) saline, glucose and injections to patients while falsely presenting themselves as qualified practitioners, endangering their health and safety for illegal financial gain.

None of the six held valid medical degrees

Those apprehended were identified as Nilagiri Prasad, 40, who ran Family Clinic near Badi Masjid in Chilkalguda, Adan Samdani, 23, who ran Samdani Clinic in Nallagutta, Ranigunj, posing as a skin specialist; M Srinivas, 51, who had operated Sai Ram Clinic near Lower Tank Bund for 26 years, Peddapatla Sadanand, 52, who ran a clinic of the same name near Wesley Church in Chilkalguda; Chintaluri Ramesh, 45, who ran Sarojini Poly Clinic in Manikeshwar Nagar, and Shivaratri Lingaiah, 57, who ran Surya Clinic in the same locality.

According to police, none held valid medical qualifications. Prasad, a Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) degree holder, had allegedly obtained a fake MBBS certificate from an “Indian Alternative Medical Council” and used it to practise as a general and children’s specialist. 

Samdani, who studied only up to Intermediate level, had been posing as a dermatologist for four years and was found preparing a homemade petroleum gel using calcium powder and zinc oxide, marketed as a psoriasis treatment. 

The remaining four accused, the police said, had gained rudimentary medical knowledge while working as compounders in hospitals before opening their own clinics without any formal qualification, in some cases running them for over two decades.

Large haul of fake certificates, medicines seized

Police seized a fake Indian Medical Council MBBS certificate, a BHMS certificate and mark list, rubber stamps, prescription pads, five stethoscopes, five blood pressure (BP) machines, five pulse oximeters, four thermometers, 70 syringes, 277 injections of various brands, 933 tablets, 57 bottles of syrup, 16 ointments and glucose bottles, among other material, from the six clinics.

Police appealed to people to be wary of individuals falsely claiming to be qualified doctors and to report such cases to the nearest police station, warning that strict legal action would follow against anyone found practising medicine fraudulently.