The Malad police is on the lookout for a quack Ajay Rajesh Sonawane, a resident of Dharavi, who cheated people to the tune of Rs 5 lakh by posing as an ayurvedic doctor. A few police teams have been dispatched to various areas to look for the quack.
Meanwhile, two agents of this doctor were arrested by the police on February 29, who are now in judicial custody. These two were identified as Suresh Lokhande and Bhujang Dasorjogi, resident of Ahemadnagar, who were the agents of this doctor and used to trap people.
According to police officials, they had received four complaints against the accused and suspect they have indulged in similar crimes in the past too. The police came to know about these accused when an elderly couple Yusuf Kanchwala, (78) and his wife Fatima (55) approached them on February 20.
They informed the police that they had met Lokhande and Dasorjogi at a local mall. The duo saw that they were walking with difficulty, and so approached them and told them about a ‘vaidhya’ who could help them. They told the couple that Sonwane had treated their uncle once. The Kanchwalas were suffering from joint pain and so approached Sonawane immediately who gave them a few medicines and charged them Rs 40,000. He also asked them to cough up Rs 2 lakh more.
Eventually, they paid the Rs 2 lakh more in January after which Sonawane was found to be absconding. After this, the Kanchwala couple realised that it had been cheated by Sonawane. According to a senior police official from Malad, Sonawane just used to mix balm with coconut oil to make it look like an ointment to fool patients. Later, three more people approached the police and said these two agents had approached them and taken them to Sonawane. The quack had taken Rs 80,000 from each of the three complainants, the police said.
