Guwahati: Cachar Police on Tuesday arrested a 23-year-old man posing as a doctor at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH), the premier government hospital of South Assam.
The accused, identified as Mir Hussain Ahmed Barbhuya of Ganigram Part-II, Katigorah, had been attending patients at the gynaecology OPD since August 29.
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Police later confirmed that Barbhuya had studied only up to matriculation at Ganigram Higher Secondary School and had bought a stethoscope online to impersonate a doctor.
“We arrested a fake doctor from SMCH this morning. He had been treating patients for two days. When he returned to the OPD today, locals grew suspicious and informed us. He has no medical qualification whatsoever,” said Cachar Superintendent of Police (SSP) Numal Mahatta.
The incident comes shortly after the arrest of another fake doctor, Pulak Malakar, at a private hospital in Silchar.
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Following that case, officials had ordered strict surveillance across hospitals.
“Anyone endangering lives in the name of treatment will be arrested. We are maintaining strict vigil on both private and government hospitals,” SSP Mahatta added.
The arrest has raised serious questions over how Barbhuya managed to practise freely at SMCH—South Assam’s only government medical college—without being noticed by hospital staff or doctors for two consecutive days. Locals suspect that his motives may have been either illicit or linked to mental health issues.
The incident has once again highlighted glaring loopholes in hospital security and verification systems.
SSP Mahatta urged nursing homes and hospitals to maintain proper registers, verify doctor credentials, and conduct police verification before appointments to prevent such lapses in future.