Pune: The Warje police on Wednesday arrested an electro-homeopathy and naturopathy practitioner on charges of running a clinic since 2002 without any registration and valid qualification. The man was identified as Bibhuti Bimal Bagchi (43), a resident of Warje. The case was filed based on a complaint by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials.
The police also invoked charges against Bagchi under sections 33 ( medical practice by person not registered), 35 (colourable imitation of degrees, diplomas or licences), and 36 (unauthorized addition of title or description to name) of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act , 1961. Police said Bagchi claims to have a qualification in BEMS (Bachelor of Electro-Homeopathy Medicine and Surgery) and ND (Naturopathy Doctor) and was mainly treating patients suffering from piles. TOI called Bagchi for comment on the development, but his cellphone was switched off; a text message sent to him returned as undelivered.
Senior inspector Manoj Shedge of the Warje police said, "PMC officials recently carried out a verification of Bagchi's degrees and related aspects and concluded that they were ‘bogus'. They approached us and lodged a complaint stating that Bagchi cannot practice, treat or prescribe medicines to patients. His clinic has been locked for the past one week.
" Dr Aruna Tarde, PMC's ward medical officer for Warje-Karvenagar, told TOI, "We had received complaints from citizens about the clinic. When we visited it last month, we fou.