Odisha Doctor duped of Rs 4.64 crore on pretext of selling private clinic, 3 held

Berhampur: The Berhampur police have arrested three persons including a couple for cheating a doctor of around Rs 4.64 crore by allegedly forging a lease agreement of a private clinic purchased by him, as the three re-acquired possession of the clinic they had sold to the doctor. 

The three accused have been identified as Sangram Keshari Mohanty, and the couple, Badrinarayana Patro and Nisi Priyadarshini. One more person involved in the case, Rushi Prasad Nahak is currently on run. 

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Sangram and Rushi were the directors of the clinic, M/s Specimen Holdings Limited which holds Apollo Hospital in Berhampur and they had decided to sell it after incurring losses during the COVID pandemic. It was then that Dr Ramesh Chandra Barata showed interest in buying the clinic and paid EMIs and settled some payments. The payments were made on the promise of goodwill that the amounts will be adjusted once the property is transferred to him legally and officially.

However, the clinic began making profits again after the pandemic receded, due to which Sangram and Rushi changed their mind and refused to sell the clinic, said the Berhampur Superintendent of Police Sarvana Vivek M. However, they had already signed the deal. Therefore, they told the doctor that they would sell the clinic only if he bought it jointly with a person identified as Nisi. 

The New Indian Express reports that the doctor had spent a huge amount of money on the clinic, and subsequently, he was left with no choice but to agree to their terms. The doctor had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 5 crore from the Bank of Maharashtra to buy the clinic. 

Eventually, the doctor and Nisi together bought the clinic on 31st March 2021 renamed Ms Aum Aarogya Hospital Private Limited through a registered sale deed after paying Rs 4.64 crore to the directors. However, Nisi who was in collaboration with the accused made another agreement with the directors without the doctors' knowledge under which Aum Aarogya was sold back to M/s Specimen Holdings Limited at a price that was even lesser than the EMI the doctor paid. 

The accused attacked and threatened to kill Dr Barata after he visited the hospital. He subsequently filed a case with the Baidyanathpur Police station. On Friday, the police arrested the three accused and seized all the related documents. They are investigating the case further. 

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