Faridkot private lab, pharmacy owners held for providing fake Covid reports

In a joint operation, a team of the CIA staff and CID unit nabbed both the accused after conducting an undercover operation

Two persons, including private lab and pharmacy owners, have been arrested for issuing fake Covid-19 test reports.

Faridkot private lab, pharmacy owners held for providing fake Covid reports

The accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, owner of Atulya Laboratory and Avinash Chawla of Regimen Pharmacy near Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot.

In a joint operation, a team of the CIA staff and CID unit nabbed both the accused after conducting an undercover operation. The private lab was providing fake positive or negative Rapid Anitgen Test reports. The CIA sleuths also seized Covid-19 testing records and other documents from the lab.

CIA staff in-charge inspector Amritpal Singh Bhati said they got a tip-off that the private lab is providing fake Covid-19 reports. “An undercover cop was sent to the lab who asked for a fake positive report. They demanded ₹8,000 from him and later, the deal was struck at ₹5,000. “They did not collect any swab sample of that person and kept only a copy of his Aadhaar Card. They took the money and told him to collect a positive report in the evening. When they provided a fake Covid positive report to our man, we nabbed them,” he said.

A case has been registered under Section 420 (fraud) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) at the Faridkot city police station.