The accused would claim to cure life-threatening diseases and administer medicines. (Representational image)

Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch (CB) has arrested five quacks from the city who were operating without a proper medical degree. In a sustained crackdown on bogus doctors, the CB arrested over 15 of them from various parts of the city.

The arrested accused were identified as Swapankumar Mandal (49) and Ramkumar Mishra (52) - both booked by the Juhu police station; Shoaib Hanif Agharia (32) booked by the Oshiwara police; and Tukaram Thorat (52) and Shaikh Aziz (42) — both booked by the Malvani police station.

The action was part of a crackdown and the accused persons were identified following complaints from Vile Parle and Malvani, the officials said. The accused would claim to cure life-threatening diseases and administer medicines.

“Separate teams of crime branch units 9, 11 and 12 were formed for the crackdown on the quacks after confidential information was gathered about their operations and whereabouts,” said a crime branch officer.

Unit 9 of the CB arrested three of the accused whereas the other two units tracked down two accused, each, and apprehended them. The accused doctors were found not to hold any medical degree.

The arrested accused had already been booked by the police in August 2018 and seemed to have found their way back into the business. The five teams handed over the accused to the concerned police stations for further action.

Fresh cases were filed against the accused as per the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and under sections of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act.