Man impersonates doc to scam clinics, labs

Kolkata: An imposter has allegedly been duping several people of cash by identifying himself as ENT and head and neck onco surgeon. On Wednesday, two days after the doctor, Indranil Chatterjee, lodged a police complaint, the man tried the same trick in a hearing aid device unit in Garia. Once he understood that a staff member knew the doctor personally, the imposter fled on a bus.The man, who is yet to be nabbed, took cash from unsuspecting people in places such as pathological labs, medicine stores and doctors' clinics, identifying himself as "Dr Indranil Chatterjee". His pretext on all these occasions included forgetting his wallet at home, or losing his car keys with the wallet inside, etc. He pretended to be embarrassed and, while leaving, said he would return the cash by the same evening.
"I got a hint of this fraud in my name on Nov 24, when an unknown person called me demanding his money back. I was shocked and explained to him that I was in hospital the whole day," narrated Chatterjee, who is attached to Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute.Even as Chatterjee lodged a complaint with Narendrapur Police Station the very next day, he kept getting calls from unknown numbers, demanding their money back, even during his surgeries. More damage came for the doctor when some people who were cheated in the same fashion by the imposter posted comments on Chatterjee's professional pages online.Hell broke loose on Sunday when a doctor from Kestopur made an online post calling Chatterjee a fraud for not returning the cash he took from the doctor, attaching CCTV footage of his clinic where the imposter duped him. The post went viral among the medical community, and some doctors who knew Chatterjee well identified that the man in the CCTV bore some resemblance to the doctor but was not Chatterjee."This incident left me deeply disturbed," added Chatterjee. On Monday, he lodged another complaint with Netaji Nagar Police Station, close to his residence, giving the CCTV footage to the cops.But on Wednesday, the imposter visited Hearzap, a hearing aid centre in Garia, asking for money in the same fashion. A staff member recognised that he was not Chatterjee and tried to catch him. However, the man rushed out, hopped onto a bus, and fled the scene."I have the CCTV footage of the man and also video recorded him while fleeing our centre. I am ready to provide these to police so that he is arrested soon," said Pritam Barui, a staff member at the Garia unit.