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After nearly four decades of practicing in Assam and Bengal, where he purportedly "retired" in 2005, an alleged "fraudulent" doctor has been arrested in the city. The arrest coincides with the upcoming review by the Gauhati High Court of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a city-based doctor, Abhijit Neog, calling for intervention in addressing the proliferation of fake doctors in Assam. Neog lodged a First Information Report (FIR) expressing doubts about the credentials of the "doctor" in question on February 4, according to police sources. Premananda Rai, aged in his late sixties, was apprehended on Tuesday from a pharmacy situated beneath the Odalbakra police outpost in Guwahati, where he had been practicing for approximately two years. According to police reports to The Telegraph, Rai was apprehended by a police team led by sub-inspector J.J. Gogoi, with substantial assistance and evidence provided by Neog. Rai was later presented in a Guwahati court, which ordered him to be held in judicial custody for 14 days starting Wednesday. 

Neog, who has played a pivotal role in uncovering 32 alleged "fraudulent" doctors, including Rai, in Assam since 2016, cited inconsistencies in Rai's purported degrees, registration number, prescription errors, and questionable death certificates as grounds for suspicion. These findings prompted Neog to initiate further investigations, ultimately resulting in Rai's arrest on Tuesday night. Neog's inquiry uncovered that Rai's claimed degrees were non-existent, and his registration number belonged to a Dr. S.N. Sen from Bengal. Additionally, spelling mistakes and technical inaccuracies in documents signed by Rai highlighted his dubious credentials, sparking skepticism among local doctors and residents. Prompted by Neog's FIR, the police initiated their investigation, revealing that Rai obtained a diploma from the Guwahati-based School of General Medical Practice in 1977, an institution lacking recognition from any statutory body. Neog commended the police for their proactive efforts, which resulted in Rai's apprehension, nothing that Rai failed to produce a Diploma in Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGO) as indicated on his letterhead. Rai, born in 1956 as per his PAN card, previously worked in tea estates in Assam and Bengal before allegedly retiring in 2005. According to police sources, his family consists of a wife and a son involved in business, who assert that they have always regarded him as a doctor. The Gauhati High Court is scheduled to review Neog's PIL on March 11. Admitted on May 12, 2023, the PIL calls for the establishment of a proper mechanism to verify the qualifications of modern medicine practitioners in Assam and identify those operating without the requisite qualifications. The home department has been named as a respondent in the case. Neog's efforts in exposing alleged fake doctors have been recognized by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which honored him with the IMA's National President's Appreciation Award during its annual conference held in Allahabad on December 27, 2022