Cuttack: Police have arrested two touts engaged in inducing patients away from SCB Medical College and Hospital to private nursing homes.

The accused duo have been identified as Bishnu Prasad Naik, 34, of Medical Sweeper Colony and Bikash Kumar Parida, 27, of Malihat.

Acting on a tip-off, Manglabag police station sub-inspector Dhirendra Kumar Das and special squad officials on Friday raided the super speciality OPD and apprehended Bishnu and Bikash.

The police said the dalals (touts) used to first spot poor patients near the Out Patient Departments and then win their trust by getting them OPD tickets. They then lured patients (referred for admission in indoor wards) to private nursing homes and clinics, assuring them of better treatment at cheaper rates. In return, they got commissions.

Deputy commissioner of police Akhileswar Singh said outdoor tickets of the patients, pushing cards of various clinics and diagnostic centres were seized from Bishnu. The police found OPD tickets of patients and pushing cards of various clinics and diagnostic centres, along with one ECG machine and its equipment, from Bikash.

"The accused made huge profits by illegally conducting ECG tests on the campus by charging Rs 300 from each patient, while ECG tests are conducted free of cost in government hospitals," Singh said.

The OPDs receive around 1,800 new patients on an average daily. Of them, around 150 are referred for admission in indoor wards. But, less than a hundred are admitted in the hospital. While the rest get admitted in private hospitals or nursing homes, many are diverted by such middlemen.

Authorities said it had become a menace in the hospital.