Odisha fake doctor having 17 wives hadn’t passed matric exam!

Bhubaneswar: Ramesh Chandra Swain (54) of Bhagabanpur in Kendrapara district, who had allegedly married 17 women and duped them of lakhs of rupees by posing as a doctor, hadn’t even passed matric exam, said Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash today.

The accused had also opened two clinics in Cuttack and Badamba under the franchise of ‘Lifescan’. However, he hadn’t paid salary to the employees for months, the DCP said.

Related documents have been sought from the company to ascertain the circumstances under which he got permission for the clinics, the police official said.

The DCP further informed that the accused had planned to marry more women and was in touch with them. All types of allegations against him will be probed thoroughly, he said, adding that police will seek the remand of Swain for further investigation and questioning.

The Twin City Commissionerate Police had on February 14 arrested Swain. A father of five children, Swain had married his first wife in 1982 and second wife in 2002. Between 2002 and 2020, he befriended other women through matrimonial websites and married them.

He used to target middle-aged women who sought companionship and acquire their money before abandoning them.

The accused used to identify himself as a doctor to establish his credibility. Lawyers, doctors and highly-educated women are among the victims.

A case has been registered against him at the Mahila police station under Sections 498 (A), 419, 468, 471 and 494 of the IPC.

According to police sources, a woman school teacher of Delhi had in July 2021 lodged a complaint with the Mahila police alleging that the accused married her in New Delhi in 2018 and later kept her in Bhubaneswar. She came to know about his multiple marriages and then sought the help of police.

On the basis of the complaint, police arrested him from a rented house in Khandagiri area in the city.

During probe, it was revealed that he had married a woman official of the Central Armed Police Forces in Punjab and taken Rs 10 lakh from her.