According to police, Khakre would call relatives of admitted patients, introduce himself as a doctor from Hamidia Hospital, and claim that the patient required urgent medicines or procedures not available within the hospital. He would then send a QR code and ask for amounts ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000. Once the payment was made, he allegedly stopped responding and blocked the callers.

The fraud came to light after multiple complaints were received by the hospital administration. Jayant Bhardwaj, security in-charge of Hamidia Hospital, said the first complaint reached Superintendent Dr. Sunit Tandon about a week ago. The following day, another patient’s relatives reported a similar incident, prompting the hospital to alert the Cyber Crime and Crime Branch.

“One family said they transferred ₹10,000 after receiving a call from someone claiming to be a doctor. When they tried to follow up, the caller became unreachable,” Bhardwaj said. Subsequent inquiries revealed that nearly 10 patients had been targeted in a similar manner since January.

One of the victims, Vinod Ahirwar, said his wife has been admitted to Hamidia Hospital for a week. He received a call from a man identifying himself as “Dr. Arnav,” who claimed his wife had liver swelling and needed medicines sourced from outside the hospital. “He asked me to send ₹5,000 to a QR code. After I paid, his number was blocked,” Ahirwar said.

To trap the accused, Superintendent Dr. Tandon devised a plan in coordination with police. The fraudster was encouraged to make contact again through a victim, after which the Crime Branch traced the mobile number. After three days of surveillance, cyber crime officials located Khakre in Indore and arrested him on Thursday. He was brought to Kohefiza police station in Bhopal for questioning on Friday.

Police said preliminary investigations suggest the involvement of some hospital staff, who allegedly shared sensitive patient details with the accused, including names, medical conditions, and surgery schedules. “This information helped him gain the trust of families,” a police officer said, adding that efforts are underway to identify others involved in the network.

An FIR has been registered, and further investigation is ongoing.