Guwahati: Nagaon Police on Saturday arrested a professor of Nagaon Medical College and Hospital for allegedly taking bribes to manipulate post-mortem reports, officials said.The accused, Dr Manoj Kumar Sinha, worked in the forensic department and allegedly altered autopsy reports to help some families claim money from insurance companies. Officials alleged that when money was not paid, reports were made unfavourable, affecting insurance claims.Police said Sinha will be produced before the court on Sunday and has been booked on charges of extortion and offences by public servants.Police and Nagaon district administration officials said he was kept under watch for three months following multiple complaints from the public.“Jointly, with the police, we had been tracking him and for the last three months several complaints were lodged against him,” said Nagaon district commissioner Devasish Sharma.Sharma said Sinha allegedly demanded money from families during autopsies, even as relatives grieved.He said that while family members were crying while autopsy was being carried out on some deceased, Sinha was after charging money from them to preparare a “good report”.Sharma said the monitoring was aimed at gathering evidence before making an arrest and that allegations indicated manipulation was done in exchange for money.“As per allegations, if he received money, the post-mortem report was prepared in a way that allowed the family to claim insurance money. Conversely, if he did not receive a bribe, the report was framed so that the family would not get any money from the insurance companies,” said Sharma.Sharma said post-mortem reports are required for multiple purposes and called it a serious offence.“Soon after getting evidence, he was arrested,” said Sharma, warning that such an act won’t be tolerated in the district.Officials said an additional commissioner lodged the case after evidence was gathered against Sinha.Established in 2023, Nagaon Medical College is among the newest medical colleges in the state and offers the MBBS course.
