Patient's death reveals MP man stole tribal's identity to become doctor

JABALPUR: In a bizarre real-life '3 Idiots' replay, one Satendra Kumar got an MBBS degree in the name of his tribal friend Brijraj Singh Uike and practised as a doctor in Jabalpur for seven years before a patient's death busted his lie. Uike, a poor painter, had no clue his friend was raking in the bucks as a doctor in his name.

Jabalpur additional SP Suryakant Sharma said police got involved in the case when one Manoj Kumar Mahawar, filed a complaint in Sept 2024 that his mother died due to medical negligence. She was admitted to a private hospital on Sept 1 and died the next day.

Upon reviewing medical files, Manoj discovered that 'Dr Brijraj Singh Uike' was on duty in ICU on the night of Sept 1. When police began probing Uike's background, they discovered that he was actually a wall painter. The moment they showed the tribal a photograph of 'Dr Uike', he exclaimed, "Why, it's my friend Satendra!"

Police began digging into Satendra's background and found he enrolled in Netaji Subhash Chandra Medical College using Uike's name and caste, completed MBBS in 2018 and began working at the private hospital. While he saw patients, the real Uike painted walls to scrape together a living.

An FIR was registered for fraud & conspiracy against Satendra, who is absconding. Investigators want to k now how Satendra, a general category candidate, dodged checks to pass himself off as a tribal & avail a quota seat.