Cuttack: In a fresh crackdown on middlemen exploiting vulnerable patients, Mangalabag police have arrested three individuals accused of duping a family at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack city by falsely promising to procure scarce blood units in exchange for money.
The accused have been identified as Shiva Mohanty of Bari, Abinash Rout of Kendrapada, and Dhaneswar Mohanty of Jagatsinghpur.
The case came to light after Vivekananda Behera of Balikuda lodged a complaint at Mangalabag police station after being allegedly cheated. The trio allegedly targeted families struggling to obtain blood from the hospital’s blood bank, took payments, and then disappeared. They are suspected to be part of a larger network of brokers operating around the premises of the state’s premier hospital.
Such brokers approach patients in distress, offer quick solutions for blood or even hospital beds, and sometimes mislead them into seeking costly treatment at private facilities for personal gain. This pattern of exploitation has been a recurring issue at SCB Hospital, with multiple past operations leading to arrests of similar touts and middlemen who divert patients or charge for non-existent services.
Further investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of the network.
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