CCTV exposes molester who conned patients at KEM hospital

The man who has duped kin of KEM patients on several occasions earlier has now been turned in to the police for molesting the wife of a patient, four days ago. The accused, identified as Santosh Mhatre, has allegedly tricked 10-odd patients in the past by offering them hopes of a quicker and better treatment.

Habitual offender: Security officials spotted Santosh Mhatre on CCTV footage, while he seemed to be chatting up more victims to deceive

He had even been handed over to the Bhoiwada police station. But he struck again a few days ago, this time venturing inside the hospital premises to harass the wife of a patient. Security officials at the hospital realised the man was Mhatre after going through CCTV footage yesterday. The police are inquiring into the matter.u00a0

MiD DAY had reported on April 7 (‘Man pretends to be KEM hospital social worker, molests patient's wife') how Archana Parmar (name changed) filed a police complaint, saying she was molested by an unidentified man outside the hospital. The security staff has since been on the lookout for suspicious elements. Yesterday, the on-duty security officer Sanjay Gedam spotted Mhatre while monitoring the facility's CCTV footage.

He seemed as though he were trying to befriend more victims so he could dupe them, staffers said. The security team headed by Manohar Budbadkar nabbed him, suspecting that he could have been involved in Parmar's case. "We called Parmar to identify him. She said he was the one who took her outside the hospital, saying that he was a medical social worker and would help her get money for her husband's treatment," said ASO Sandeep Patil of KEM hospital. He added that last month Mhatre duped relatives of two patients of Rs 3,500 each.

In March, Naresh Dadoda, a resident of Palghar, and Ramdas Bhagat were allegedly defrauded by Mahtre. "Mhatre takes gullible kin in confidence by telling them that he has contacts in the hospital. He then takes money from them on the pretext of helping the patient get better treatment and runs away," said Patil. "Every time our men catch such offenders and hand them over to the police. But we have observed that they return
to KEM and start swindling patients," said Budbadkar.u00a0