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Kandivli Covid vax scam: Five camp organisers arrested
Kandivli police on Friday arrested five persons in connection with the vaccination scam at Hiranandani Heritage housing society whose members alleged that the vaccination camp organisers had given 390 members of their society Covishield shots from bottles with broken seals
Kandivli police on Friday arrested five persons in connection with the vaccination scam at Hiranandani Heritage housing society whose members alleged that the vaccination camp organisers had given 390 members of their society Covishield shots from bottles with broken seals.
The five men are identified as Mahendra Kuldip Singh, 39; Sanjay Gupta, 34; Chandan Singh, 32; Nitin Mode, 32; and Karim Ali, 21. Police officers said the accused have confessed to having organised such camps in nine other societies before holding a camp at Hiranandani Heritage.
Dilip Sawant, deputy commissioner of police (zone 11), said they are now investigating to find out the names of the societies.
According to police, Mahendra Singh and his associates had no authorisation from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or any other authority to set up vaccination camps or administer vaccines. During investigation, the police also found out there was no medical officer present at the camps held by the group.
After the residents filed a written complaint, the police recorded statements of society members and representatives of the hospitals whose certificates were given to the members.
“We found that Sanjay Gupta and Chandan Singh, both of whom work for private hospitals, used to procure the vaccines while Karim Ali used to procure the certificates,” said an officer from Kandivli police station.
The police are now finding out the sources from where and how the vaccine doses and certificates given to the beneficiaries were procured, and whether the Covishield bottles were usable, since their seals were already open.
Police officers said residents were charged ₹1,260 per jab and none of the beneficiaries had any side effects. The housing society paid Singh a total of ₹4.56 lakh.
Police said Singh had approached Hiranandani Heritage Residents Welfare Association (HHRWS), a managing body representing three buildings in the residential complex at Kandivli (West), and offered to set up a vaccination camp aided by Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Andheri.
On May 30, 390 members were inoculated but they were not registered on the Co-WIN portal. After seven-eight days, the residents started getting messages about their vaccination certificates from two private hospitals — Nanavati Max Super Speciality and Lifeline hospitals, and the civic-run Nesco jumbo centre in Goregaon, which does not even hold vaccination in societies.
The five men have been booked under sections 268 (public nuisance), 270 (doing any act known to spread infection or disease dangerous to life), 274 (admiration of drugs), 275 (sale of adulterated drugs), 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467, 468, 470 (forging document) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 43 and 66(e) of the Information Technology Act.
All the five were presented before Borivli magistrate court and remanded in police custody till June 24.
