'Fake' cardiologist of MP held in Prayagraj; NHRC probes death of patients treated by him
Bhopal/Damoh, Apr 7 (PTI): Police on Monday arrested Narendra John Camm, an alleged fake cardiologist who is being linked to death of seven patients at a missionary hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district, from adjoining Uttar Pradesh, a senior official said.
On Sunday midnight, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused, who allegedly possesses a bogus medical degree, on forgery and dishonest misappropriation charges on a complaint by Damoh district's Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) MK Jain.
Damoh Superintendent of Police (SP) Shrut Kirti Somwanshi told PTI, "The accused, Dr Narendra John Camm, was arrested from Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh). Our team conducted a raid and arrested him. Our team is bringing him here."
The accused will be produced in court after he is brought to Damoh, he said.
The police officer said the accused will be interrogated on questions raised by the CMHO in his complaint.
"In the original complaint (submitted to NHRC), there was a mention of death of seven patients at Mission Hospital. Another complaint (filed by CMHO Jain) was related to verification of the doctor's degree," the SP said.
Primary verification revealed the doctor's certificate was fake, Somwanshi said.
The FIR was registered against Camm under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 315 (4) (dishonest misappropriation), 338 (forgery), 336 (3) (creating or altering documents or electronic records with fraudulent intent), 340 (2) (forged documents and electronic records) and 3 (5) (joint criminal liability when a criminal act is committed by several persons in furtherance of a common intention).
The accused was arrested on the basis of charges mentioned in the FIR, the police officer informed.
"About the death of patients in the hospital, the district collector has handed over the probe to the Jabalpur Medical College after the report of CMHO. Further investigation will be conducted on the basis of their (Jabalpur Medical College) report," the SP said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which received a separate complaint related to death of patients who were treated by the "fake" cardiologist at Damoh Missionary Hospital, is separately conducting a probe into the matter. An NHRC probe team from New Delhi is camping in Damoh, around 260km from Bhopal, and will remain in the district till Wednesday.
As per the complaint lodged with the NHRC by a local resident, the accused, using the name of a famous cardiologist from the UK, 'Dr N John Camm', had shown himself to be educated and trained from abroad.
NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo flagged the use on Friday when he said a case of the untimely death of seven patients has come to light at a missionary hospital in Damoh where a fake doctor was operating on patients in the name of treating heart diseases.
According to the complaint, the real name of the accused is Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav. He misused the name of UK cardiologist Professor John Camm to mislead patients and they died due to his wrong treatment.
In his complaint, CMHO Jain alleged Camm had committed a fraud by performing angiography and angioplasty on patients at the Mission Hospital without being registered with the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council.
District Collector Sudhir Kumar Kochar told reporters the NHRC team has come to Damoh in connection with the complaint regarding the death of patients at the hospital.
"This (NHRC) team has interacted with us and CMHO. They will talk to the (family of) victims and complainants. They will carry out inquiry till Wednesday," he said.
The NHRC team will share details of their probe with police, Kochar maintained.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered the health department to take strict action into the matter.
"We are aware of the incident. Our government is taking strict action and is continuously in touch with the Central government. I have instructed the health department to take strict action against such practises, if any, at other places (as well)," Yadav noted.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
