Chennai: A court in Chennai has rejected a bail plea of a ‘fake’ Siddha practitioner who was arrested after he claimed to have a cure for Covid-19.
Based on a request from the police, the court turned down the bail plea of Thiruthanikachalam.
According to sources, he allegedlly cheated his ‘patients’ by promising to cure ailments and collected money from them.
Thiruthanikachalam, was arrested in the city recently based on a complaint by the Director of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, sources said.
The department said Thiruthanikachalam claimed that he had found a medicine that could cure COVID-19 and spread false information through social media and newspapers. He was running a Siddha hospital near the Chennai Mufossil Bus Terminus. He had no medical qualification.
As per Section 8 of The Epidemic Diseases Act and Regulations, publishing any kind of information on COVID-19 on WhatsApp or Facebook without the permission of the Directors of Public Health or Medical Education or Medical and Rural Health Services was banned.
The release added that as his act endangered the lives of people, the Director of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy lodged a complaint with the police and action was being initiated on him.