A 45-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly impersonating as a doctor and running a clinic for the last three years in Odisha's Ganjam district, the police said on Saturday.
Several medicines and basic medical equipment worth over Rs 1 lakh have also been seized during a search operation at the facility in Kumpapada village in Jagannath Prasad block on Thursday, a senior officer said.
“We came to know that his educational qualification is only Class VIII, and impersonated himself as an MBBS doctor,” Jagannath Prasad police station inspector Dillip Nayak said.
The man was running the clinic with a four-bed indoor facility for the past three years and was asked to close the unit for some days in 2020 over violation of the COVID-19 guidelines, he said.
The accused used to issue prescriptions to patients in the name of Dr Lal, and had earlier worked as a labourer in a textile mill in Gujarat's Surat, the officer said.
During interrogation, he revealed that he was only dealing with the people who were suffering from minor ailments and had referred several critical patients to hospitals in Berhampur and other cities of the state and Andhra Pradesh, police said.
Everyday, over 100 patients visit his clinic for treatment, sources said.
A case has been registered against him, and further investigation is underway, the officer added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Body Of Class 11 Girl Found Hanging In Hostel Bathroom In Odisha BJP Seeks Clarification From Naveen Patnaik over BJD MP's "Bid To Insult" President Murmu How A Tailor's Tag Helped Odisha Police Crack A Murder Case Bengaluru Techie Loses Rs 11.8 Crore After "Digital Arrest" Kolkata Man Gets Divorce As "Imposition Of Wife's Friend" Is Deemed Cruelty "Daughter Doesn't Know Her Mother's Dead": 'Pushpa 2' Stampede Victim's Husband 21 Cybercriminals Arrested For Duping People Of Rs 125 Crore: Police Parts Of Delhi Face Water Shortage As Ammonia Levels Rise In Yamuna Meet Botto, The AI Artist Who's Making Millions With Its Digital Creations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.