Amritsar private hospital doctor held in 3-year-old fraud, forgery case

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 4

Ranjit Avenue police have arrested Dr Parveen Devgan of a private hospital located in the posh Ranjit Avenue area here on Thursday in connection with a three-year-old case of cheating and forgery. He was produced in a court, which remanded him in judicial custody.

Dr Devgan was booked following a complaint filed by Gokul Chand Aneja, a resident of the Airport road area, after his wife Sunita Aneja, a lawyer, died due to his alleged post-operative negligence in October 2018.

Besides lodging a police complaint, he had also submitted a complaint with the Health Department for a high-level probe while accusing Dr Devgan and his staff of gross negligence during the post-operative treatment that led to his wife’s untimely death.

Following his complaint, the then Civil Surgeon constituted a medical board for a thorough investigation. During the probe, the medical board found the attendance register tampered and the claims of the presence of two MBBS doctors in the ICU recovery room false. The board also found that the signature of the complainant in the hospital treatment file was forged.

Dr Devgan and his staff of Altec hospital was also indicted in the police probe conducted by the then Deputy Commissioner of Police. Following two-year-long investigations and forensic reports, the police finally registered a case against the hospital in 2021 under Sections 420, 465, 468 and 471 of the IPC. He was arrested in this case on Thursday, three years after the FIR.

Aneja said in December 2023, the Punjab Medical Council (PMC) suspended his registration for six months and debarred him from practice. In the order, the PMC pointed out that “all the council members unanimously decided that Dr Parveen Devgan failed to demonstrate due skills and care towards the patients and it decides to suspend his registration for six months and debar him from practice during the period.” The council also mentioned that the period can be extended if Dr Devgan failed to comply with two conditions — submitting root cause analysis behind the death of the patient and the training certificate of laparoscopic hysterectomy from the recognized institute.

He said the PMC in its order also pointed out that besides his wife Sunita, the doctor also operated another woman patient Madhu Khanna after the incident. She also developed similar complications after operation and later died.

He urged the police to add Section 304 (death by negligence) of the IPC against him and his other staff members to the FIR. He also urged the police to ensure that he did not escape out of the country during his bail period.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar has now deputed Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Dr Darpan Ahluwalia to supervise the investigations. The police said the PMC has been asked to cancel his licence while further probe regarding the criminal negligence was being carried out.

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