9 held for cheating patients at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate Police on Friday arrested nine persons from the premises of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar for cheating patients and their attendants.
The touts were taking money from the patients and their kin by promising them to provide outpatient department (OPD) tickets for consultation with doctors.
Khandagiri police station had received information regarding movement of touts and brokers in the hospital premises.
“Posing as patients and attendants, we stood in the queues to get OPD tickets for doctor consultation on Friday morning. During that time, some people approached us to help in getting OPD tickets. After discussing with them, we found them as touts and apprehended at the spot,” said a police officer.
He said a team of police personnel had laid the trap to arrest the touts. “Though the brokers had a faceoff with police staff, they did not allow the touts to escape. We had brought 13 people from the hospital premises, but four of them were victims,” said the officer of Khandagiri police station.
The touts were also taking money to help the patients to get connected with doctors. After getting money, they were not paying heed to the requests of patients. While five persons were from Bhubaneswar, four of them from West Bengal. The touts, who are native of West Bengal, were cheating people of their state, said the police sources.
Additional medical superintendent Prabhas Ranjan Tripathy said AIIMS Bhubaneswar has been putting all its efforts to stop the brokers involved in manipulation of OPD tickets.
“Earlier also the national institute had taken strong action against the brokers by regularly handing them over to police and sharing information regarding the brokers to local police. On Friday, our hospital security personnel helped the police to catch the brokers,” said Tripathy.