Class XII pass man held for posing as doctor at Rourkela Hospital

The accused was identified as a 53-year-old resident of West Singhbhum, Jharkhand and he used to work at a chemist shop. He has a history of similar fraudulent activities and this is the second time that he has been arrested for posing as a doctor in the past five years.

According to the Rourkela police, he assumed the identity of Dr R***** C****** J** and used his credentials to secure a position as a medical officer in the dialysis unit of RGH on December 23 of the previous year, reports The New Indian Express. He got the employment through Rahi Care Pvt Ltd, an outsourcing firm. His fraud was exposed when Bajaj Finance, a financial services company from which he had taken a personal loan of Rs 16 lakh, scrutinized his documents and uncovered the fraud.

His scheme fell apart when he failed to forge a document correctly, which contained the actual phone number of the doctor he was impersonating. He had skillfully altered Dr Jha's medical certificate, Aadhaar card, and other documents, superimposing his photograph to create a convincing fake identity, reports the Daily.  

Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Rai confirmed that Bajaj Finance had lodged a complaint of impersonation and fraud against the accused. The investigation revealed that in 2010, he had been employed at Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital (HTMCH) but fled when his true identity was discovered. He was previously arrested in November 2019 by Town police in Sundargarh for deceitfully securing a position at Hathbari Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Nuagaon block, about 45 km from Rourkela.

According to The Daily, he had worked there for nearly three years before his credentials were questioned. The, then, Sundargarh Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr SK Mishra grew suspicious and had his qualifications verified by the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla, leading to a complaint and his subsequent arrest on November 13, 2019. 

Dr Ganesh Prasad Dash, the superintendent of RGH, stated that the hospital had no means to find out his impersonation, as he had very discreetly completed the registration process with the Odisha Council of Medical Registration recently. Mayur Agarwal, the area manager of Rahi Care Pvt Ltd, remarked that he possessed significant technical knowledge, which initially masked his deception. The agency was informed of the fraud by the police on Wednesday and has since terminated his employment. A police complaint will also be filed against him by the firm. He was earning approximately Rs 50,000 per month through the agency.

Interestingly, the accused grew up in Rourkela, completing his education up to Class XII in the steel city, where his father worked at the Rourkela Steel Plant. He later moved to Jamshedpur, where he worked at a chemist shop, which sparked his interest in medicine and his subsequent fraudulent pursuit of a medical career.