A senior doctor named Durgadatta Sasani, who is working at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur in Ganjam district, was arrested by the Koraput police in Odisha based on the charges of producing a fake caste certificate for his medical studies and acquiring a job.

This incident came to light when the doctor’s younger brother, Ambika Prasad Sasani, lodged a complaint at the Semiliguda police station in Koraput district against his brother, Durgadatta Sasani, on July 20, 2023. According to the complaint, Durgadatta, a local of Sambaya Colony in the Semiliguda region of the tribal-dominated Koraput district, is originally a Brahmin but produced a fake caste certificate showing himself as an Adivasi.

Initially, the doctor completed his graduation in the arts stream as a general-category student. He also completed the D Pharma course from a college in Bhubaneswar with his original identity under the general category. With the fake caste certificate, he posed himself as an Adivasi, and he got admitted to the MBBS course in 2006, followed by a three-year specialization course in 2014 at the MKCG Medical College. In 2017, he got a job at MKCG Medical College, and in 2022, he got a promotion too, and now he is working as an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesia at MKCG College in Berhampur.

According to local police, in 2003, Durgadatta manipulated to get a fake caste certificate for which he used the surname Jani. He showed himself as the son of an individual from Mandarguda village who belonged to a scheduled tribe. With the help of a fake caste certificate, Durgadatta later studied class 10 through distance education and finished a +2 regular course in the science stream at the BJP college in Bhubaneswar. He also used another surname, Sasani.

As per the reports, based on Durgadatta’s brother's complaint, the police registered a case under IPC sections 468, 471, 420, and 506 and arrested the accused. Later, he was produced in court.

(Inputs from various sources)

(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina)