Sonarpur: A man was arrested in Sonarpur on Monday night for allegedly prescribing medicines in the guise of a doctor and using his registration number.

Kausam Ali Mallick, the accused, lacks a medical degree and is originally from Memari in Burdwan. Police said he had worked as an assistant to a doctor named Pritam Saha in Nabadwip, Nadia, more than five years ago.

He shifted to Khurigachhi in Sonarpur four years ago and started medical practice as Pritam Saha.

"Mallick had moved court and changed his name to Pritam Saha before shifting to Sonarpur. Residents of Khurigachhi knew him as Dr. Pritam Saha," an officer of Sonarpur police station said.

"This was a smart move. If someone wanted to cross check, he or she would find the name 'Pritam Saha' and the registration number in the medical council records."

The police were on Mallick's trail after being alerted by members of a social welfare organisation in the area who alleged that the accused had failed to answer satisfactorily their questions about his medical qualifications.

The organisation members confronted Mallick after a resident of the area named Chinmoy Mondal told them about his experience of dealing with the accused.

"Mondal had gone to Mallick as a patient and found his behaviour suspicious," the officer of Sonarpur police station said.

"The members of the organisation asked Mallick in which year he had graduated and what were the subjects he had to study. The accused apparently failed to answer their queries," another officer said.

Mallick was produced in a Baruipur court and remanded in police custody till December 2.