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Looks like a flourishing business.


https://m.timesofindia.com/city/pune/3-booked-for-offering-certificate-of-diploma-in-naturopathy-in-a-day/articleshow/63837028.cms

3 booked for offering certificate of diploma in naturopathy in a day

Pune: The Kothrud police on Wednesday booked two founders of a naturopathy institute in Aurangabad and a medical practitioner from the city for offering a diploma certificate in naturopathy in lieu of cash.

Abhishek Haridas (36), an activist from Kothrud, has lodged a police complaint. They have been booked under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life) of the IPC.

The suspects refuted the charges. “The allegations are false and made out of vested interests,” one of the founders told TOI over the phone from Aurangabad.

Haridas said he had received information about naturopaths practising medicine in the state. “We found the website of one of the institutes in Aurangabad. It has detailed information about its diploma course in naturopathy. When we contacted the founder of the institute, he told us their course has government recognition. He even said we could start our own institute after completing the course,” he said.

Haridas and a few activists visited the institute at Kannad taluka in Aurangabad on April 10. “The founder said he could give us the certificate in a day. He demanded Rs47,600 to issue it,” Haridas said.

He said when he offered the cheque, the man told him to pay in cash. “When we refused to pay in cash, he gave us the cellphone number of his Pune contact,” he said.

Haridas said his team then met the self-proclaimed Ayurveda practitioner at Bhusari Colony in Kothrud. “He showed us certificates. He even gave us the account number of the institute in an Aurangabad-based bank and told us to transfer an initial amount of Rs10,000,” he said.

Haridas and his team then went to the Kothrud police to lodge the complaint. “Initially, the police were reluctant to take the complaint. It was taken after the directives from the Pune police commissioner,” he said.

The founder of the Aurangabad institute said, “All allegations against me are wrong.”

Shilimkar, son-in-law of the other naturopath, said, “The allegations against us are baseless,” Shilimkar said.