BERHAMPUR: Aryapalli Marine police in Ganjam district on Tuesday arrested a 40-year-old man for posing as a doctor and providing medical diagnosis to gullible patients without necessary qualification.
The accused is Prasannajeet Sarkar, a Class VIII dropout of Bishnupur village in 24 Parganas of West Bengal. Police seized medical equipment and certificates, believed to be forged, from Sarkar’s clinic at Gandhi chowk in Sana Aryapalli village.
Sources said police were informed that Sarkar was pretending to be a doctor and treating patients at the clinic. He was reportedly performing minor operations and collecting hefty fees from patients. He was also selling medicines at his clinic.
To verify the claims, a police team led by Marine IIC Bidya Bharati Nayak reached the clinic and found the fake doctor examining a patient with stethoscope. When the IIC asked Sarkar to show his credentials, he failed to produce any document.
Police said during interrogation, Sarkar broke down and admitted that he had no licence to practice medicine and was posing as a doctor since many years and treating patients. Sarkar revealed that after failing in Class VIII, he left home and reached Madhya Pradesh where he worked in a clinic owned by a Bengali doctor. In 2021, he came to Aryapalli and opened his own clinic.
Police seized the unlawfully stored medicines worth of over Rs 1 lakh and medical equipment from the clinic in presence of witnesses. A case was registered in this connection. Sarkar was arrested and produced in the court in the evening.
The IIC said investigation is underway to ascertain for how long the accused was operating as a fake doctor. Besides, police are verifying the genuineness of Sarkar’s Aadhaar and voter cards which he had prepared during his stay in Aryapalli. All such clinics operating the jurisdiction of Marine police station would be verified, she added.