The hospitals that hired masala salesman-turned-orthopaedic surgeon Hemant Sonawane alias Hemant Patil as a consultant, might face action for allowing the quack to use their operation theatres to perform surgeries, the police have said. The police have lodged one FIR and are in the process of registering more FIRs under attempt to murder cases against him, as he endangered the lives of those he operated on.

Many of his victims have recorded their statements with the police after a series of media reports about him. The 51-year-old Sonawane had been practicing in Vasai since 2018 but the local municipal corporation allegedly turned a blind eye to this. The matter came into light when a local politician approached Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police chief Sadanand Date, and a civic medical officer registered an FIR against Sonawane. Subsequently Sonawane was arrested.