Man posing as doc robs elderly patient at hospital

Pune: A man posing as a doctor yesterday entered a room occupied by a 75-year-old woman patient at the Ruby Hall Clinic in the city and stole her valuables and cash. The loss to the patient, identified as Aftaabbi Daruwale, was pegged at Rs 42,000.

The incident happened between 9 am and 9.30 am, when the elderly woman was resting in Room Number 17 of the eye ward. In a complaint lodge with the Bund Garden police station, a relative of Daruwale said a conman posing as a doctor entered the room in the morning and announced some reports needed to be collected from the ground floor. The relative accompanied the man to the ground floor and was asked to wait outside.

Ruby Hall Clinic Chief Security Officer Lt Col Satishkumar Bhatia (Retd) said the thief left the patient's relative on the ground floor and returned to her room.

"The thief then went to the room again and the patient was resting with her eyes closed. He took away her jewellery, purse and cash kept nearby worth Rs 42,000 and walked out calmly. In fact, on the way out, he even met the relative whom he had asked to wait downstairs but didn't exchange a word and kept going," said Bhatia.

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The theft was discovered minutes later, but the thief had walked out of the hospital by then. The CCTV cameras in the hospital have captured images of the conman and posters have been put up in the hospital with details of the suspect.

Hospital authorities have warned against such conmen and are also informing patients to stay alert.

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"The reports are always sent up and we don't ask patients' relatives to come out. The relatives should have cross-verified with the nurse posted outside. Patients and their relatives should stay alert and we are also strictly on the lookout for such conmen," said Bhatia.

Despite repeated requests, relatives of the patient refused to talk about the incident, stating that they did not wish to be disturbed. Police Inspector (Crime) Sudhakar Kate of the Bund Garden police station said, "We are aware of similar cases that have happened in Pune earlier. We are trying to identify the person who had come in Ruby Hall Clinic. However, no substantial evidence has been gathered so far."

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The patient suffered a loss of Rs 42000.