Patient robs doctor of Rs 10 lakh cash in Mumbai

A doctor offered to drop a regular patient home after seeing him at his clinic, but the latter thanked him by taking off with his bag that contained Rs 10 lakh in cash. Kiran Sonawane reports.

A doctor offered to drop a regular patient home after seeing him at his clinic, but the latter thanked him by taking off with his bag that contained Rs 10 lakh in cash.

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Believing that it was a mistake, Dr Dhananjay Dangat tried calling his patient, whom he knew only as Jagdish, for more than a week, but his phone remained switched off. Finally, convinced that he had been duped, he filed a complaint with the Kapurbawdi police on Tuesday.

"Having known Jagdish for some time as he was being treated for a persistent cough, Dangat offered him a lift home. But when Jagdish got off the car, he took the doctor's bag and the cash it contained with him," said P Bhingardive, an inspector at the Kapurbawdi police station.

Dangat, who runs a clinic at Dhokali Naka in Thane, said: "On December 17, Jagdish, who had come to me for a follow-up visit, told me that his uncle was waiting for him at a nearby place. He requested me to drop him there and brief his uncle about his health. I dropped him at the said spot and his uncle was standing there. Jagdish must have taken the bag while I was talking to him."

Once home, Dangat found that the bag was missing. Suspecting Jagdish must have taken it, he looked up his mobile phone number and sent him many text messages, even promising rewards in return for his bag. Dangat also promised to not file a police complaint if he Jagdish gave the bag back, but in vain, the police said.

"I am sure the patient and his uncle were involved in the theft because I went straight home after dropping him."

The police are now looking for Jagdish and his uncle, who are untraceable.