Bengaluru: Residents of Ramamurthy Nagar are protesting against a fake doctor, who they claim overcharged and misdiagnosed them. They allege that the fake doctor, Kumar R.S., was running his practise, stealing the identity of another doctor who died in 1987.

The fake doctor’s original name was Raghunath J.S. and assumed the name of Kumar R.S., a doctor who died. He was practicing at KL Hospital in the area.

His registration certificate, a copy of which is available with Deccan Chronicle, shows that it was issued to him by the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) in his current name, Kumar R.S. The issue came out in the open after a local TV channel broke the news. Officials from the Karnataka Medical Council told Deccan Chronicle that strict action will be taken against the fake doctor and his licence will be cancelled if the claims are found to be true. “We will conduct an inquiry and submit a report. We will also ensure that action is taken if the said doctor is guilty," said Dr H. Veerabhadrappa, president, KMC.

The registration certificate also clearly mentions that he changed his name from Raghunath J.S. to R.S. Kumar and the name change was as per an affidavit published in an English newspaper.

District Health Officer, Bengaluru Urban, Dr Nadeem Ahmed, said that action will be initiated depending on the report submitted by the KMC. “If the certificate is not valid then the hospital licence will be cancelled," he said.

Local MLA Byarathi Basavaraju, who visited the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, said that the hospital should not be allowed to operate. The protesters alleged that the doctor overcharged them and misdiagnosed them. The doctor, who has gone missing, used to practise at other hospitals in Ramamurthy Nagar. “He used to work with us from 9 am to noon and a few patients complained that he did not diagnose them properly, after which we pulled him up," said Dr Koshy, director of Koshy’s Hospital.