Fake doctors dupe 73-year-old Nagpur man of Rs 3.5 lakh; one held within two hours

Nagpur: Hoping for relief from his illness, a 73-year-old man lost Rs 3.5 lakh after trusting two strangers. The two accused took cash from him on the pretext of treatment and fled. Nagpur Crime Branch Unit 3 arrested one of them, Mohammad Babloo Mohammad Salim (40), of Bundi, Rajasthan, within two hours.

Gopal Pandurang Nimje, 73, a resident of Shantinagar, is a diabetic and suffers from swelling in both legs. On October 26, two men approached him at Rani Durgavati Chowk. One of them gave his name as Arun and claimed that his father had suffered from a similar ailment and recovered after being treated by a doctor in Haridwar. In this way the accused won Nimje's trust and took his address and mobile number.

At about 8.30 the next morning, one of the accused phoned Nimje, claiming to be a doctor. He reached Nimje's house a little later with his accomplice. The two pretended to treat his legs and claimed that pus had collected in them. They said 100 units would be needed to drain it, put the price at Rs 3,500 per unit, and demanded Rs 3.5 lakh in all. Hoping for relief, Nimje handed over the cash kept at home. As soon as they had the money, both men left.

Instead of a cure, the elderly man got no relief at all. When he tried to contact the accused, their mobile phones were switched off. Realising he had been cheated, Nimje filed a complaint at Shantinagar police station. The police registered a case under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and began an investigation.

Crime Branch Unit 3 went through CCTV footage from Nimje's house and its surroundings and, on that basis, arrested Babloo. He confessed to carrying out the fraud with his accomplice, Mohammad Salam Nuruddin. Goods worth Rs 4.5 lakh in all, including cash and the two-wheeler used in the crime, have been seized from Babloo.

The accused lure people into being cheated with offers of treatment. Being glib talkers, they draw people into their trap. They have been active for years.