Residents on the rampage in front of Mondal’s chamber. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Aug. 5: Residents ransacked the chamber of an alleged fake doctor in the Singatala area of the town today after he drew blood from a one-year-old girl to “conduct tests” but could not stop the bleeding.

An adjacent pathological laboratory owned by the accused was also raided.

P.C. Mondal, who had set up the chamber and the clinic claiming to be an MBBS, managed to flee.

“We do not know of any doctor by that name,” said Bimal Sarkar, the district secretary of the Malda chapter of the Indian Medical Association. The chief medical officer of the district said the clinic was illegal.

Police have started a case against Mondal. The baby has been admitted to the Malda district hospital in “serious condition”.

This morning, Bhadu Basak and his wife, who hail from Sitadebi village in Samsi, came to Malda town for the treatment of their daughter who had injured her head after a fall.

From Malda railway station, a rickshaw-puller brought them straight to the chamber of Mondal, who took Rs 80 as fees and Rs 200 for blood tests from the parents. Bhadu had only Rs 300 with him.

“I never thought that he was a fake doctor until my daughter’s condition went from bad to worse soon after he drew blood for tests. I became suspicious when I saw my daughter convulsing and my wife started crying,” a sobbing Bhadu said later.

The altercation that followed between Mondal and Bhadu attracted the residents of the area. Modal could not satisfactorily answer their queries and fled through the rear door.

The residents ransacked his chamber and the clinic. “They also arranged to get my daughter admitted to the district hospital,” Bhadu said.

Manik Ghosh, the secretary of a local club, said Mondal had been running the chamber for the past one year.

“He had declared himself a doctor with an MBBS degree and had put up a huge signboard,” said Ghosh.

“We had no idea that he was a fake doctor — that is the job of the health department. Had this family not brought it to our notice, Mondal could have cheated many more people,” Ghosh added.

The chief medical officer of health of Malda, Radharaman Banik, admitted that the clinic run by Mondal was “illegal.” “I will ask the police to take action against him. The health department will also launch a drive against unauthorised clinics and nursing homes in the district,” said Banik.

“The relatives of the baby have lodged a case against Mondal in the local police station and we have started a case,” said district police superintendent Satyajit Bandyopadhyay.