Over 100 taken ill with quack’s potion, police intensify search

Kollam: Eroor police have registered a case against a quack from Telangana who dispensed fake medicine and swindled money. Over 100 people, including children, developed serious illnesses at Eroor Pathadi near Anchal in the district after consuming medicine from the quack. The quack is absconding after the police registered a case.

Lakshman Raj, a native of Telengana, had allegedly distributed medicine to over 100 houses here for various ailments, assuring that the medicine could cure their diseases. But it was later found that the medicine contained a high amount of mercury, causing illness related to kidney and liver.

Muhammed Ali (4) son of Ubaid of Rahim Manzil, Pathadi, who took the medicine later developed fever and rashes all over his body . The boy who was admitted to a private hospital at Anchal was later shifted to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

His father said the boy had to be kept on the ventilator for 10 days . “The medicine given to the boy by the quack was examined at the govt’s chemical laboratory and it was found to contain mercury twenty times more than the permissible limit” he said.

When contacted Eroor police said that they had intensified the probe to arrest the quack. “We have registered a case against the quack after we received complaint from the parents of a four-year-old boy whose health worsened after consuming the medicine. Based on the complaint we are trying to trace the location of the culprit. So far 15 people have come forward to report the fraud,” a police official said.

Local people said the quack had collected Rs 500 to 20,000 from each patient.