A Device That 'Diagnoses' by Touch: Fake Doctor Fined after 15 Years of Fraud in Barisal

Put a hand on a laptop-linked device, and supposedly every disease would be detected — with that claim, a man had been seeing patients for nearly 15 years. He was finally caught on Sunday night in a mobile court drive in Babuganj, Barisal. Alimul Islam, 48, has been fined 50,000 taka on allegations of practising medicine under a false identity.

The story surfaces through the experience of a woman named Saleha Begum. Suffering from eye problems and headaches, she had gone out looking for treatment. A broker told her that in the College Gate area of Babuganj upazila there was a doctor who could diagnose all kinds of diseases with a machine and treat them. Believing those words, she went to the man and received treatment through the method of placing a hand on a device. She later learned that the qualifications and documents of the man posing as a doctor were fake.

Alimul Islam stands accused of defrauding thousands of ordinary people like Saleha Begum in the name of treatment. On Sunday (October 18) at around 8 pm, he was caught in a mobile court drive by the upazila administration while seeing patients at a pharmacy in the College Gate area of Babuganj upazila.

The mobile court fined Alimul Islam 50,000 taka and seized the equipment and documents he used for treatment. He could not produce any valid document in support of his qualifications as a doctor, the upazila administration said.

The administration and various sources said Alimul Islam had long been seeing patients in different areas of Barisal Sadar, Uzirpur and Babuganj upazilas. He also regularly saw patients at Madhabpasha Bazar in Babuganj and in the Babuganj Degree College Gate area — meaning his web of fraud had spread across a wide area rather than a single place.

On his prescription pad he wrote 'Dr.' before his name and presented himself as a physician. The pad also mentioned MBEH (India), DMF (Dhaka) and training at NRS Medical College in Kolkata. He also claimed expertise in treating medicine, skin, sexual and allergy diseases.

It is alleged that he treated ordinary people by claiming to diagnose diseases using a laptop and a special device. When his qualifications and papers were checked, they were identified as fake, the upazila health department said.

Acting on a tip-off, a mobile court led by Babuganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Asma Ul Husna raided the NMS Pharmacy in the College Gate area on Sunday night. The Upazila Health Complex's Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Tamim Mallik and Medical Officer Turja Adhikari were present at the time.

Medical Officer Turja Adhikari said that on receiving the news he went to the scene with the UNO and verified Alimul Islam's documents. The papers he produced were found to be fake, and he had been cheating people in the name of treatment. Such drives will continue through the joint initiative of the health department and the upazila administration, he added.

UNO Asma Ul Husna said the drive was conducted after allegations that he was treating patients under a doctor's identity without being one. Alimul Islam used a doctor's identity before his name on his prescription pad but could not show valid qualification documents. He admitted to carrying on this fraud for nearly 15 years, she said.

The UNO added that he was fined 50,000 taka as a first offence. He was spared imprisonment on the condition that he will not be involved in any treatment-related activity in future. The device used for treatment and the fake documents were seized at the time.

Alimul Islam is the son of Abdul Ali Hawladar of the Baherghat area of Uzirpur upazila in Barisal, according to his national identity card.

That a fake doctor could see patients across three upazilas for 15 years without being caught raises questions about oversight in the local health system. The administration says the drives will continue — but the most urgent message now is for patients not to believe claims such as diagnosis by touching a device, and to seek care from verified physicians.