Several others detained for prescribing medicines without qualification.

A car driver, a matriculate, and a class 7 graduate were among the 56 ‘doctors’ who were arrested by the police for cheating and endangering public safety during raids on 107 poly clinics across old city.

Following complaints of quacks operating on a large scale in the southern areas of the city, 50 special teams conducted raids at different places and caught a total of 107 persons. Of them, 56 were quacks, while the remaining were doctors who completed Bachelor in Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), Bachelor in Ayurveda and Surgery (BAMS) and Bachelor in Homeopathy and Surgery.

“The quacks set up clinics in slum areas. All of them affixed the word ‘Dr.’ to their names and were cheating people. A few of them worked as para-medics or class-four employees in some hospitals, and some of them had earlier worked in medical stores as helpers,” DCP (south) V. Satyanarayana said.

The police recovered large amount of medicines, injections and fluids from the clinics. “People flock to the clinics as they charge a low consultation fee. They administer injection and give them medicine,” the official added.

The police were shocked to find that a few quacks displayed signboards with the names of different MBBS and MD doctors outside their clinics, and had stocked bottles of intra-venous (IV) fluids.

Mr. Satyanarayana said that the accused persons were administering IV fluids to patients for every ailment, and charged between Rs. 150 and Rs. 250 from them.

A few days ago, a quack administered an injection to a pan shop owner, Shaik Nayeemuddin, following which the latter died. The accused later took the body to the city outskirts and burned it down. In another case, a woman was paralysed after quacks administered injections to her at a clinic in Hussainialam.

The police have sealed all the clinics and are sending the samples to Forensic Science Laboratory. “We have asked the officials of AYUSH and other departments to come and verify the certificates of BUMS and BAMS doctors. They will also inspect these clinics as only allopathic medicines were found during the search operation,” the official said.

Cases under Sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code were registered against them.