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Two fake doctors arrested in Assam’s Cachar district after ACMR complaint
First Information Reports (FIRs) were lodged against Pankaj Chaudhary, a resident of Silchar, and Subhir Choudhury, a resident of Kalain
Silchar: Two men allegedly posing as qualified medical professionals — one claiming to be a senior gastroenterologist and the other an MBBS graduate from Kazakhstan — were arrested separately in Assam's Cachar district on Monday, following a complaint lodged by the Assam Council of Medical Registration (ACMR).
“We received complaints from anti-quackery vigilance officer of ACMR Abhijit Neog, and First Information Reports (FIRs) were lodged against Pankaj Chaudhary, a resident of Silchar, and Subhir Choudhury, a resident of Kalain,” Cachar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Numal Mahatta said on Tuesday.
Neog alleged that Pankaj was illegally practicing as a medicine specialist, gastroenterologist, and diabetologist in the town, issuing prescriptions, displaying signboards, and representing himself with “qualifications like MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery), MD (Doctor of Medicine), Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) of gastro, and fellowships from international institutions.”
According to the police, Pankaj had been using Registration No. 24147 to pose as a registered medical practitioner. However, verification revealed the number belongs to a different doctor with the same name, a resident of Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh. The legitimate Dr. Pankaj Chaudhary holds valid medical qualifications, including an MBBS from Kazakh University (2003), an MD from Lucknow's K.G. Medical College (2009), and a DM in Gastroenterology from New Delhi's AIIMS.
A search operation was launched in Silchar town on Monday evening, and Pankaj was detained from a private clinic. He was taken to Ghungoor police station for interrogation and document verification.
"We arrested him after the initial investigation and found that he was holding multiple fake PAN and Aadhaar cards with different names. We also contacted his supposed family members in Kolkata but they refused to recognise him. We are trying to find his actual identity," SSP Mahatta said.
Pankaj was arrested under Sections 34 (licence to practice medicine), 35 (national register), 36 (state register), and 37 (right of persons enrolled in state register) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and Sections 18 (persons entitled to be enrolled) and 26 (privileges of registered practitioners) of the Assam Medical Council Act, 1999, along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery, and impersonation.
Subhir was arrested while treating a patient inside a chamber at Basanti Pharmacy in Kalain.
"Investigations revealed that Subhir had been posing as an MBBS doctor and treating patients for a long time, despite not holding any qualifications recognized by the state," the SSP said.
With these two fresh arrests, six fake doctors have been arrested in the district in the last two weeks, according to police records.
These arrests come under the state government’s broader Anti-Quackery and Vigilance Cell, set up in January 2025 following the enactment of the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024.
