01 September,2010 07:59 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
As conmen posing as hospital staff make rich pickings in Delhi, Goa and Bangalore, police wonder if it is all the handiwork of one gang
It's been more than 15 days since a conmanu00a0 posing as a doctor robbed two women patients admitted in reputable hospitals in the city, but hazy CCTV footage and the inability of patients to describe the conman's traits are making it difficult for the police to catch the culprit.
What happened in the city on August 12 is not an isolated incident; it has happened elsewhere in the country as well.
One such case was reported in Goa in February at the Goa Medical College in the maternity ward.
According to patients admitted to maternity ward for delivery, two Hindi-speaking men who had an apron wrapped over their clothes stole the mangalsutras of two women patients. The case was registered with the local police station.
The Delhi police arrested a man identified as Aman Deep (24) on August 25 for posing as a medical practitioner at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to steal valuables from the premises.
Now, the city police are taking a closer look at these cases to see whether it was one gang that was responsible for all the thefts across the country.
So far the police are grappling in the dark about the man who conned to women patients at Poona Hospital and Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital on August 12.
u00a0Senior PI Motichand Roathod of Vishrambaug Police station said, "We came to know that the man behind these acts had come to Pune in the morning on the day of the crimes and had hired a autorickshaw from Katraj and had gone to Poona Hospital, where he stole from 72-year-old patient Aasha Kale."
A similar incident was reported on the same day, but in the evening, around 5 pm at the Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital, where a conman asked Alka Avinash Garud, a patient admitted for check-up, to remove her mangalsutra as he told her that he was administering her an injection.
PSI Ravi Patil, who is investigating the case, said, "We checked the criminals on record but we are yet to arrive at the conclusion."
The conman was caught on CCTV, but the footage was hazy.
Change of clothes
If it was the same man who committed both thefts, then he went to the second hospital after changing his clothes. According to the police, the conman who appeared in Poona Hospital was wearing formal black trousers, whereas the person who had appeared in the CCTV footage was wearing a pair of jeans.
According to sources, the autorickshaw driver who ferried the conman through the city on August 12 has given vital clues to police.
