Locksmith's key to quick bucks: Start a dental clinic on footpath

RAJKOT: His main skill was repairing locks and making keys. But something struck 21-year-old Jaggan Singh Khichi that he doubled up as a dentist running a clinic on a footpath right outside Padmakunvarba Hospital on Canal Road.
For the last one-and-a-half months, Khichi not just prescribed medicines for toothaches but also prepared dentures!. On Saturday, however, his exploits were exposed by one of the patients whose dentures he had made.
The A-division police arrested Khichi for practicing with a medical degree following a complaint filed by a victim Samji Rathod (58). Rathod wanted to get dentures made and he got Khichi's reference from a roadside tea kiosk owner.
On December 20, Rathod and his wife went to meet Khichi who told him that he fitted dentures for many people and that he had a good experience. He took the measurement of Rathod's jaw, and prepared and fitted the denture by charging R 3,300.
On December 26, Rathod developed a mouth ulcer and suffered from severe pain in his jaw. He approached Khichi who told him that the denture fitting was perfect and that it would take about 10 days for the pain to subside.
However, Rathod's pain only became unbearable and he approached another doctor who told him that the person who had fitted the denture clearly did not have any knowledge of dentistry or medicine.
Rathod then lodged a complaint against Khichi saying that he was running the dental clinic without any degree. The clinic did not even have a name while his actual business was that of repairing locks.
The police booked Khichi under IPC sections 336, 419, and section 30 of The Gujarat Medical Practitioner's Act.
"We will know how many people took treatment from him after detailed interrogation. But it's strange that people also approached him despite seeing that he is a lock maker," said a senior police official.