Have arthritis? Beware of quacks looking to con patients of huge amounts of money on the pretext of treatment. The DB Marg police on Saturday arrested a 52-year-old quack who allegedly duped a Grant Road based woman of Rs 10.57 lakh on the promise of treating her arthritis.
The arrested has been identified as Hafiz Abdul Mohammad Gani Shaikh, a native of Kota, Rajasthan.
According to the police, the complainant has arthritis and finds walking difficult. Even after consulting doctors, the problem persisted. On December 7, 2013, she met a person near her house who identified himself as Rajubhai. He told the victim that she could face more trouble because of arthritis and referred her to a hakeem known as Mohammad Bhai who could relieve her pain by treating her at home.
Next day, Rajubhai and Mohammad hakeem visited the victim's residence for treatment. At the time, the hakeem addressed Rajubhai as Shahzaad. After some initial treatment on victim's leg, the hakeem said that if she did not get a proper treatment then she would suffer from paralysis and could even lose both her legs to gangrene.
This, the hakeem told the victim, was because someone had performed black magic on her for revenge. He was able to scare the victim who gave Rs 2.52 lakh to Shahzaad for the treatment. Hakeem also asked the victim not to inform anyone about the treatment, and if she does so then the treatment would be rendered ineffective.
On December 11, when the duo again visited victim's home, the victim and her daughter refused to continue with the treatment. However, they said that incomplete treatment would affect her health negatively. The victim once again agreed and paid Rs 4.15 lakh more. The duo again visited victim and managed to extract a total of Rs 10.57 lakh.
When the treatment failed to bring relief, the victim consulted her family doctor. The doctor told her that the entire treatment performed on her was bogus and that Shahzaad and hakeem could well be quacks. The victim then lodged a complaint against the two.
The police received a tpi-off that one of the accused would be at an ayurvedic shop at Ghatkopar (W) on Sunday and laid a trap. Around 3 pm the suspect was apprehended.
The suspect identified himself as Hafiz Abdul Mohammad Gani Shaikh and admitted to having committed the fraud along with his nephew Shahzaad alias Raju Iqbal Shaikh, 45.
The police team searched for Shahzaad but could not trace him.
Shaikh and Shahzaad have been booked for cheating and common intention. The police have seized a watch, a mobile phone, blades, two voter cards, two PAN cards, one AADHAR card, few allopathic and ayurvedic pills and Rs 12,000 cash from Shaikh.
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