New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS): Delhi Police have arrested a fake chemist who sent over 40 people for surgeries to Agarwal Medical Centre in south Delhi.

Investigation has revealed that 'doctors' at the hospital performed medical procedures on patients without possessing the necessary degrees or authorisation.

The accused has been identified as Julfiqar (42), a resident of Prahladpur, who ran a clinic-cum-medicine shop in Sangam Vihar.

The police said that Julfiqar used to sell homeopathy and allopathy medicines without a valid licence.

On Tuesday, the police had arrested Neeraj Agarwal, his wife Pooja Agarwal, Mahender (ex-lab technician) and Jaspreet, who fabricated surgery notes of planned surgeries by unqualified individuals.

As per the police, eight people died during and after the medical procedures, while one patient lost her uterus at the said hospital.

On interrogation, Julfiqar told the police that he contacted Neeraj Agarwal after he found his number written on a card that was distributed by some boys in Sangam Vihar.

“Neeraj Aggarwal agreed to give Julfiqar 35 per cent commission for each patient he referred. Julfiqar referred patients in need of operation such as stone removal or delivery to Aggarwal's clinic,” said Chandan Chowdhary, DCP (South).

Payments from Aggarwal to Julfiqar were made through phone transactions linked to his mobile number.

“Their association spanned for approximately 5-6 years. The latest referral was Asgar Ali, who unfortunately passed away during treatment,” said the DCP.

“The autopsy report of Asgar Ali indicated the cause of death as hemorrhagic shock due to complications from laparoscopic cholecystectomy,” the officer added.

In total, Julfiqar referred around 40 to 50 patients to Aggarwal for various treatments, including delivery, abortion, and stone operations.

“Aggarwal typically charged Rs 15,000 to 20,000 for delivery and stone operations, and Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 for abortion,” Chowdhary said.

According to the police, on October 10, 2022, a woman from Sangam Vihar filed a complaint alleging that her husband underwent gallbladder stone removal at Agarwal Medical Centre on September 19, 2022.

Initially, Agarwal claimed that a 'renowned' surgeon -- Jaspreet Singh -- would perform the surgery. However, just before the surgery, they were told that due to some emergency, Jaspreet Singh would not perform the operation.

The surgery was then done by Mahender Singh along with Agarwal and Pooja.

In her complaint, the woman said that later, it was discovered that Mahender Singh and Pooja were fake doctors.

The complainant said that her husband experienced severe pain post the surgery and had to be rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital where he was declared dead.

According to Chowdhary, investigation revealed that Jaspreet Singh was not present during the surgery and had fabricated documents.

Seven complaints were filed with the Delhi Medical Council against Agarwal Medical Centre for negligence leading to patient deaths.

On October 27, 2023, another patient, Jai Narayan, died after surgery. A medical board found deficiencies in the medical centre, while further investigation exposed Agarwal for frequently producing fake documents.