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Fake vaccine case: 2 more, including fake IAS officer's cousin, held in Kolkata
Six persons have so far been arrested in the case, which includes fraud IAS officer Debanjan Deb -- the mastermind behind the elaborate scam.
The Kolkata police has arrested two more persons in connection with the fake vaccination drive against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), said officials familiar with the development on Tuesday. Six persons have so far been arrested in the case, which includes fraud IAS officer Debanjan Deb -- the mastermind behind the elaborate scam. In the latest arrests, the cops have held Deb's cousin and another person who assisted in administering the fake vaccines, the police said.
"In a raid on Monday night, we picked up Deb's cousin from the Naktala area and another 52-year-old man from the northern part of the city. Both were actively involved with Deb," news agency PTI quoted an officer of the Kolkata police as saying. Deb's cousin knew from the very beginning that he was not an IAS officer and despite that, he continued assisting him in the illegal activities, the officer said.
"The cousin even cheated Deb. The other man was associated with a doctor of the Taltala area and assisting Deb in administering the fake Covid-19 vaccines to the people who came to the camps," he said.
The investigators also found that Deb as an "IAS officer" even conducted a raid near his office in the Kasba area after getting information that adulterated petrol was being sold, the police officer said. A report about the raid was published in a newspaper with Deb's photograph, he said.
"He had also conducted an election where his employees cast votes. After the election, he declared himself the winner and also got that news published, mentioning that he won in West Bengal Employees Federation elections," the officer said.
Deb was arrested last week for masquerading as the joint commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and operating dubious immunisation camps. Three of his associates were arrested on Saturday as police included the charge of an attempt to murder along with other sections of the IPC against them.
