Doctor booked for forging voter ID card

The Times of India: Bhubaneswar: Saturday, November 17, 2012.

A homoeopathy doctor has been booked for allegedly tampering with his voter identification card to meet the requisites of a government job.

Police registered a case against the doctor, who was posted at Chudapali Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Balangir district.

According to the police, about a month ago, the doctor forged the voter ID card to obtain residential certificate, which was a prerequisite for the PHC job.

The matter came to light after Dr Truptirani Kahar, who was also in race for the job, raised objections. After getting all the documents under RTI pertaining to the doctor's recruitment, Kahar, who hails from Balangir district, lodged a complaint with the town police station.

"We registered a case against the doctor on the basis of the complaint lodged by Dr Truptirani Kahar and the documents she produced before the police. She has alleged that the doctor forged the residential certificate only to avail of the post at Chudapali PHC," said Srimanta Barik, IIC, town police station.

"The voter ID had the photograph of the doctor but the ID card number belonged to someone else. This raised serious doubts," said the IIC.

The health centre has 13 vacancies for Ayush doctors. The eligibility criteria categorically mentioned that a candidate has to be a resident of Balangir district. But the doctor, who is originally from Khurdha district, allegedly forged residential certificate for the job.

"The allegation regarding the doctor's residential certificate is under investigation. Balangir tehsildar is looking into the matter. Action will be taken after getting the inquiry report," said Vikrant Kindo, chief district medical officer of Balangir.