Cuttack: Touts engaged in inducing patients away from the SCB Medical College and Hospital here to private nursing homes and clinics seem to be flourishing with ease.
Hardly over a month after the arrest of two dalals (touts) from near the super specialist outpatient department, police have busted another racket with the arrest of two touts from near the surgery ward.
The two dalals, arrested on Friday, were identified as Sakyasingh Panda, 36, of Ambasala village in Balikuda police limits of Jagatsinghpur and Rahul Kumar Nayak, 19, of Gandhichhak in Badamba police limits of Cuttack district. Cases against them have been registered at Manglabag police station under sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (cheating by personating).
Acting on a tip-off that dalals were engaged in waylaying patients from near the surgery ward to private nursing homes, Manglabag police station sub-inspector Chandan Purohit and special squad members raided the hospital on Friday and arrested the duo. The inspector in charge of the police station Arun Kumar Swain on Saturday said: "Pushing cards of one Omm Diagnostic Centre, a portable X-ray machine, Fuji film slide were recovered, along with a Samsung mobile and Rs 6,070 cash, from Sakyasingh."
"It was ascertained that the two accused used to induce poor patients coming from the remote areas away for 'better treatment by reputed doctors at cheap price'. In the process, they got huge profits," Swain said. "They used to illegally conduct X-Rays at Rs 300 on campus, while it is free in government hospitals."
Earlier, Manglabag police had busted a similar racket and arrested two dalals on March 24.
The police had found OPD tickets of patients and pushing cards of various clinics and diagnostic centres, along with a ECG machine and its equipment, from them. It was found that the dalals used to get huge profits by illegally conducting ECG tests on the SCB campus by deceiving the patients and getting Rs 300 for each one, whereas such tests are free in government hospitals.
The police said the modus operandi of the racket was simple. The dalals first spot the poor and innocent patients from the remote areas near the OPDs and then win their trust by helping them out in getting OPD tickets and finding the concerned OPD. Then they would lure the outdoor patients (referred for admission to the indoor ward) to private nursing homes and clinics assuring them of better treatment at cheaper price. In return they got commissions.
Hospital authorities said the dalals had been a menace on the campus. They expected the police to curb the menace.
