Manipur: Illegal Clinic busted, Fake Doctor couple arrested

Imphal: In a joint investigation, a couple posing as fake doctor and nurse running an illegal clinic without valid documents were arrested by the Kakching district police.

Based on a tip-off, a joint team of Chief Medical Officers and a Kakching police team led by additional SP (CPCR) A Romendro Singh raided a clinic by the name of Jahuda Modern Clinic and Jahuda Ladies Women Clinic run by a couple claiming to be doctors at Sora Bazar.

The duo has been identified as N. Nandakumar Singh and Bijayanti Devi. While investigating the clinic, the team found that the duo had prescription pads in the names of the fake doctors.

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The team noticed that Bijayanti Devi claimed to be a nurse, an obstetrician, and a gynaecologist in two different sets of prescriptions whereas N Nandakumar identified himself as having a medical degree. In 1997, N Nandakumar enrolled under two separate registration numbers (3394 and 3994) with the West Bengal Medical Council, and his wife Bijayanti was registered under registration number 3815 with the Assam Council.

N Nandakumar said that he had studied at the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine located at 80 Chowring-hee Lane in Kolkata, which has been found to be a fake university. Bijayanti Devi was unable to provide information on her educational background and her profession is in a questionable state.

When questioned regarding the registration numbers' validity, they could not offer any supporting documentation. The duo was also practising unsafe medical termination of pregnancy with unsafe unsterilized instrument sets, which they also admitted to.

The team found a few MR syringes, a copper T and a makeshift bed with a broken IV stand which presumably is the bed for conducting unsafe abortions, a senior officer said.

Without enough knowledge of prescription names, indications, dosage schedules, and adverse effects, the couple was prescribing pills and medications. The health team removed several allopathic and homoeopathic pharmaceuticals, along with unsterilized surgical equipment, from the area. The stocking and dispensing of these medications took place behind an open counter without a legal licence from the state regulating agency, Pothashang reports. 

According to the senior official, They had a receipt book in the name of BCH Pharmacy claiming it to be a registered pharmacy, but without any licence number or GST number which is required and mandatory nowadays.

Also, from Nandakumar's possession, the team found different seals identifying himself as a medical practitioner and one identifying him as a medical officer of Kakching. Later, the duo was arrested by the police and a case have been registered under relevant sections of the law. The police are investigating the case to find any further relevant clinics in other areas run by these two accused.

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