Delhi: ‘Fake doctor’ who fled custody held four years later

Police said the suspect, who was living in a rented house and ran a small clinic, was evading arrest since 2017 for allegedly trying to usurp shops belonging to an old woman in Khanpur and was also wanted in two prior cases as well.

A 58-year-old man, who was arrested in 2014 over suspicion of practising as a doctor without an MBBS degree, was arrested once again from southwest Delhi’s Mohan Garden near Uttam Nagar for his alleged involvement in seven cases of cheating and forgery.

Police said that Khan’s wife and two children live in a rented house in Lajpat Nagar while he changed his mobile number and began living in Mohan Garden to avoid his arrest. (HT Archives. Representative image)

Police said the suspect, Mohammad Shabir Khan, who was living in a rented house and ran a small clinic, was evading arrest since 2017 for allegedly trying to usurp shops belonging to an old woman in Khanpur and was also wanted in two prior cases as well.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Usha Rangnani said Khan claimed to be holding a degree in Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) from Delhi University. “We are verifying his claims,” she said.

DCP Rangnani said that the district’s special staff team had received information that a proclaimed offender (PO) had been living in Mohan Garden area, following which he was caught from his rented home.

During interrogation, he revealed that on November 30, 2014, Delhi Medical Council officials raided his clinic at Devli Khanpur, following which he was arrested for the first time and remained in jail for nearly a fortnight.

After securing bail, the DCP said, he stopped attending court proceedings and was declared a PO.

Later in 2015, he allegedly cheated a foreign national then living in south Delhi of USD 8,000 on the pretext of converting the foreign currency into Indian currency. As surety, he leased a house he had rented to the woman allegedly using forged documents and posing as its owner.

“Khan was arrested in that case as well but jumped the bail and never joined the court proceedings,” said DCP Rangnani.

In 2017, Khan was again booked for cheating and forgery after he allegedly tried to usurp the property of an elderly woman in Khanpur who had rented out her shop to him for running his clinic. Khan allegedly prepared forged documents of the shop and stopped paying the rent.

“When the elderly woman filed a police complaint, Khan allegedly broke locks of two more shops of the woman and began claiming to be their owners. When the police started looking for him, Khan fled and was never arrested. There were four more cases that were filed against him on the directions of different courts,” added the DCP.

Police said that Khan’s wife and two children live in a rented house in Lajpat Nagar while he changed his mobile number and began living in Mohan Garden to avoid his arrest.