Commissioner of Police, Dimapur, Kevithuto Sophie, during the press conference.
Morung Express News
Dimapur l May 2
In a case worthy of a movie script, the Nagaland Police put a lid to a decade-long medical practice in Dimapur run by a medical school dropout.
The case came to light in January 2025, when the Dimapur police received a complaint from the Nagaland Medical Council (NMC) about one person masquerading as a medical doctor and practicing at a private clinic in Dimapur. The accused, identified as one Albert P Lotha, was subsequently arrested in February and charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)/Indian Justice Code, and the Nagaland Medical Council Act.
According to the Commissioner of Police, Kevithuto Sophie, the accused operated out of a family owned medical outlet– Medical Hall, in New Market, from where he attended to medical complaints intermittently over a period of more than a decade.
He claimed that he got the MBBS degree from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore in 2014. This however turned out to be a false claim as corroborated from the University. It was confirmed he had signed up for the MBBS course in the university in 2008 but left without even completing one year.
He returned to Nagaland and purportedly started practicing, beginning 2014. As the story went, he became quite popular, the quackery attracting a niche clientele or patients over the years.
He even diagnosed ailments and prescribed medicines.
The CP expressed apprehension that he must have treated a lot of people.
To aid the police investigation, the CP requested people who were treated by the self-proclaimed medical doctor to hand over medical prescriptions handed out by him.
“I want to appeal to anybody, who must have been treated by him, to approach the West Police Station. We will be very grateful,” said the CP, who termed the case as an eye opener for all.
First official statement on Pimla case
The CP made another disclosure, confirming the detention of five individuals suspected of complicity in the April 7 alleged rape and murder of a 35 year-old woman in Pimla, Chümoukedima on April 7. It was the first disclosure officially made by the police since the crime was discovered.
The body of the victim, a vegetable vendor by profession, was discovered half clothed and throat slit.
The police had initially detained 10 individuals, including the husband of the victim.
The CP said that the Special Investigation Team investigating the case is waiting for forensic reports.
He did not give a timeframe as to when the forensic reports would return.
According to him, the post mortem report only stated it was “homicidal.” Contrary to what the Zeliangrong Youth Organisation Nagaland told the media on April 14, he said that rape was not ruled out. He maintained that the investigation cannot arrive at a conclusion until and unless all the forensic reports arrive.
Drug seizure
Four persons, including a woman were arrested in Dimapur on April 25 by the Narcotic branch of the Nagaland Police. According to the CP, suspected ‘shan flower’ or heroin weighing approximately 280 gm were confiscated in connection to the case.
A team of Narcotic personnel had tailed three of the suspects from Kohima before intercepting them at the Clock Tower in Dimapur. Their capture led to the arrest of a fourth person, a woman, said to be the buyer.
