New Delhi: Delhi Police arrested four people, which included three doctors and an imposter, on Wednesday in connection to their alleged involvement in the surgeries of two patients who succumbed at a clinic in Greater Kailash, South Delhi.
The people taken into custody, as per police statements, are Neeraj Agarwal, who manages Agarwal Medical Centre, Jaspreet Singh, Pooja Agarwal (Neeraj Agarwal’s wife), and former lab technician Mahender Singh.
The police reported that Asghar Ali, a patient seeking gallbladder treatment, was admitted to the clinic in 2022. Initially, Dr. Jaspreet, a qualified surgeon, was supposed to perform the surgery, but just before the operation, Pooja and Mahendra replaced him.
Following the surgery, Ali experienced severe pain and was urgently transported to Safdarjung Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Families of the patients claimed that Dr. Agarwal, who operates Agarwal Medical Centre, and three others conducted surgeries on multiple patients’ vital organs without adhering to established medical protocols. The complainants alleged that Dr. Agarwal, despite being a physician, performed surgeries using fake documents.
The Probe So Far
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Chandan Chowdhary, Agarwal would take help of unqualified people, including his wife and former laboratory technician Mahender Singh, during surgical procedures. Jaspreet Singh reportedly forged surgery notes as part of this scheme.
A probe into the case revealed that since 2016, Dr. Agarwal, Pooja, and the Agarwal Medical Centre have encountered at least nine complaints. The police, as per the news agency PTI, indicated that in seven cases, patients lost their lives due to medical negligence.
“On November 1, a medical board consisting of four doctors was called to examine the medical centre, and a lot of shortcomings and deficiencies were observed,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Chandan Chowdhary remarked, adding that the investigation revealed Agarwal’s habitual practice of falsifying documents related to patients’ treatment and surgery.
Police said they have confiscated 414 prescription slips featuring only doctors’ signatures, leaving substantial space at the top. Additionally, they seized two registers containing information about patients who underwent medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) at the clinic, along with prohibited medicines and injections that should only be stored in hospitals.
Police also mentioned the confiscation of expired surgical blades, original prescription slips from various patients, checkbooks from 47 different banks, 54 ATM cards representing various banks, passbooks from different post offices, and six credit card machines for POS terminals. These items were seized from both Agarwal’s residence and clinic.