Dental Tourism gone awry: Dentist files harassment complaint against police, CBI director, NRI patient

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Vigilance Department will investigate allegations of a local dentist that former CBI special director Rakesh Asthana influenced police to lodge a case of cheating against him on the complaint of an NRI woman, officials said.

Dr Mohit Dhawan had filed a complaint against Asthana; former Chandigarh DGP Tajinder Singh Luthra; former DSP Satish Kumar; Inspector Ashwani Attri and an NRI woman before the CBI Director in New Delhi last year.

The entire genesis of the case goes back to the year 2018, when the NRI patient filed a complaint with the Chandigarh police. In her complaint she said that she was looking for dental implants and contacted dentist Dr Mohit Dhawan. He said that he would carry out the procedure in two sittings. She came to India on August 1, 2017. The dentist allegedly used “sub-standard” implants and took the full payment of Rs 7,13 437 through cheque. He also allegedly offered to arrange her hotel stay as well as her visits to several hill stations. But he did not do so.

The complainant said that after she returned to the US, she realised that the implants were sub-standard after the “upper crown fell down”. Based on this complaint the police booked an FIR against the doctor.

The dentist in his counter allegations informed that he was the victim in this case. He was booked in March 2018 under charges of forgery, cheating, using fake documents.

Naming former CBI director Asthana in the matte the dentist claimed that the case was registered against him under the pressure of the senior CBI officer and the former Chandigarh DGP. The doctor alleged that he had filed a cheque-bounce case against D''Souza in a court after her cheque for Rs 7 lakh was dishonoured.

He also filed a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) which asked the police to furnish a copy of the complaint complaint against dental surgeon received in the odd hour, 3.45 am, at police headquarters, Sector 9, on October 10, 2017

The doctor also levelled allegations of extortion, harassment and fabrication of documents by police. The CBI had forwarded the complaint of Dr Dhawan to the Chandigarh Vigilance Department recently.

"A staff member of the Vigilance office acknowledged that my complaint to the CBI has been forwarded to the Vigilance Department here on December 28," the doctor claimed.

In his complaint to the CBI, Dr Dhawan had attached copies of a few e-mails accessed through an RTI, which claim that the NRI woman had contacted Asthana. Police said the matter is sub-judice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.