As India is rapidly moving towards inoculation of the masses, its vaccination drive is hindered by misinformation, hesitancy and now fake jabs. After a shocking revelation of a fake vaccination drive in Kolkata, which duped more than 2,000 people by giving them saline instead of actual vaccine, Mumbaikars fell victim for a similar fraud. The Mumbai Police arrested 10 people in connection to the fake vaccination drive in Maharashtra capital and seven FIRs have been lodged.
Charged with attempt to murder to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the accused have duped more than 2,000 people in the name of vaccine and even issued fake vaccinated certificates. Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said the police recovered Rs 12.40 lakh that was fraudulently obtained from unsuspecting people and the bank accounts of the main accused, Manish Tripathi and Mahendra Singh, have been seized.
According to the police, thousands of people were given saline or salt water in the name of Covishield vaccine. The police discovered eight more camps run by the syndicate.
The fake vaccination camp was organised for residents of the Hiranandani Heritage Residents Welfare Association (HHRWA), but got cheated. Serum Institute, which makes the Covishield vaccines, even wrote to BMC to help them track the batch number of this shipment.
Taking note of the fraud, which could have dire consequences, the Bombay High Court directed BMC to test the vials, assess victims' health and even check their COVID antibodies. In addition, the HC has asked BMC to administer proper vaccinations to all those who have been duped by the syndicate.
Fake vaccination camps in Kolkata
Mumbai is the second city in India to have reported the fake vaccination drive after Kolkata. more than 2,000 people fell victim to a fake vaccination drive in the West Bengal capital, the police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are not yet sure what was injected in them in the name of Covid-19 vaccines. Preliminary investigations suggest the fake vials either contained plain water or some other vaccine, as per KMC officials.
The city police have recovered KMC letterheads, logos, rubber stamps and many other documents which were convincing enough that he worked for KMC. According to the police, Debanjan Dev - the man responsible for running the fake vaccination racket - recruited people and gave them a salary.
The whole incident came to light when Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police alleging that a man was running a fake vaccination centre in Kasba area in the Southern fringes of the city on Wednesday. The actor-turned-politician found the camp suspicious when she received no official confirmation after taking the vaccine from this camp on Wednesday evening and then lodged her complaint.
