3 arrested in Navi Mumbai for issuing fake Covid vaccine certificates

3 persons have been arrested for issuing fake Covid vaccine certificates in Navi Mumbai; the fraud came to light after police sent a fake customer to the accused for vaccination; the accused were caught red-handed while accepting the money and issuing the certificate

APMC police have arrested three persons including a Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) employee for allegedly issuing fake Covid vaccine certificates for ₹3,000.

APMC police have arrested three persons including a Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation employee for allegedly issuing fake Covid vaccine certificates for ₹3,000. (HT FILE)

Police seized one fake certificate and six fake universal passes. According to the police, people who wanted a universal pass and had not been vaccinated, used to approach them for the certificate.

The arrested have been identified as Amol Kisan Zende (35), who worked at Turbhe urban primary health centre, Nitin Anandrao Shinde (34) and Viraj Vakshe (29). Shinde and Vakshe ran photocopy centres at APMC and brought customers to Zende.

“Prima facie it seems that those who approached them were registered by Zende using the user ID and password of Turbhe UPHC in the CoWIN app. While they did all the formalities of the vaccine, the actual shot was not taken and a certificate was issued. We are investigating if any more people are involved in this and how many in total were provided with the fake certificates till now,” a police officer from APMC police station said.

The fraud came to light after the police received information and they sent a fake customer to the accused for the vaccination. The accused were caught red-handed while accepting the money and issuing the certificate. The certificates issued belong to people from Dombivli, Thane and also Mumbai.

The accused have been arrested under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.