Gurgaon: A gang that played on the vulnerabilities of people desperate for medical solutions was busted with the arrest of a fraud who went by the name of “Dr R Zeriwala” and promised to cure paralysis by sucking out “poisonous blood” from patients’ bodies, charging them Rs 5,000 for every drop.Their fraud began on Nov 30 last year, when 67-year-old Mahesh Chadha — partially paralysed after a 2020 brain stroke — and his wife Madhu, a retired govt teacher, stopped for breakfast at a Murthal dhaba. Here, they encountered Mohammad Kasim — who posed as Nitin Aggarwal — and claimed his father had recovered from similar paralysis through Dr Zeriwala’s treatment. He shared a contact number and an address in Delhi’s Dwarka, claiming he lived there.Over the next few days, the fraudsters meticulously built trust, with Kasim arranging calls between the victims and people posing as his parents. Dr Zeriwala’s supposed assistant, Sameer, initially played hard to get, saying the doctor was busy treating patients in Dubai and Canada. When they finally secured an appointment, the con artistes orchestrated a theatrical performance at the Chadha home, where the fake doctor promised to visit on Dec 4.The scam involved Sameer first administering “heated towel therapy”, followed by Dr Zeriwala’s dramatic entrance. Using a blade to make incisions on the paralysed areas, Dr Zeriwala sucked blood through a pipe, spitting it onto a chemical-treated surface that turned it yellow — supposedly proving it was “poisonous”.Dr Zeriwala demanded Rs 5,000 for every drop of blood extracted, claiming he had risked his own life as the toxins had flown into his mouth and required him to take special medicine. The gang fished out a total bill of Rs 25 lakh.The couple paid Rs 1 lakh in cash and promised to clear the remaining dues later. Dr Zeriwala called them the next day, pressuring the couple to transfer Rs 19 lakh, claiming he had to send further medicines. Once the money went through, the accused switched off their phones.Suspecting they had been conned, Madhu lodged a complaint at Sector 65 police station. A case of cheating was registered against ‘Dr Zeriwala’, Nitin, Meenakshi, and Sameer on Dec 23 last year.Police admitted that tracking the accused was easier said than done. It took the cops months to track a mobile phone linked to the crime, which was found active in Sanod village of Rajasthan. The phone, however, was found with a woman who worked in local fields. Questioning her and her husband took the police team to a mobile shop that illegally sold SIM cards using forged identity cards.After four months of sustained technical and human intelligence, the cops made their first breakthrough by arresting Kasim from Sangod village on April 4. Kasim confessed to receiving Rs 2.5 lakh as his share.Subsequent arrests included that of Amir, Sameer’s brother, who received Rs 1.5 lakh from the scam. Dr Zeriwala — later identified as Mohammad Jahir — and Sameer secured anticipatory bail, submitted Rs 20 lakh that allowed their release on the condition that both joined the ongoing investigation. The money was then returned to the victims.However, the accused did not cooperate with the investigators, prompting police to arrest them formally. The cops also filed a plea in the Punjab and Haryana high court for the cancellation of their bails.“Initially, our family went into shock, and we lost all hope of getting our money back. But the sincere efforts of DCP (south) Hitesh Yadav and sub-inspector Gaurav helped unearth a major nexus. They traced the gang and recovered the entire amount,” said Himanshu Chadha, the couple’s son.The police investigation revealed that the accused — members of the Singhi gang — had orchestrated similar frauds across Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Noida.The cops said they were trying to trace the gang’s network to multiple states, with numerous members operating from Sangod village.
