Mumbai vaccination scam: Ninth FIR registered; 218 from Andheri firm given saline

The Amboli police on Thursday registered the ninth first information report (FIR) in connection with the fake vaccination scam

The Amboli police on Thursday registered the ninth first information report (FIR) in connection with the fake vaccination scam.

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Police officers said the complainant Avinash Bidaya, 32, from the marketing department of Kwan Company, located on New Link Road, Andheri (West), approached the police claiming that Dr Rajesh Pandey introduced himself as the employee of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on June 1 and offered to organise a vaccination camp for their 218 employees.

On June 3, Pandey sent an invoice of ₹294,840 and on July 4 he conducted the camp by giving the employees saline water instead of the Covidsheild vaccine. On July 8, he again sent an invoice of ₹12,636.

When the employees did not receive the certificates and heard about the scam, they approached the Amboli police to complain.

“We have booked Dr Rajesh Pandey and his accomplices. We are now investigating to find out who else among the 13 accused were present during the vaccination camp at Kwan,” said a police officer from Amboli police station.

Vishwas Nangre Patil, joint commissioner of police (law and order) said that till now 10 FIRs have been registered, nine in Mumbai and one in Thane against the accused.

The vaccine given by the accused after April 23 was saline water, however, the vaccine given to people before this date (April 23) could have been a mixture of expired Covidsheild and saline water or the doses admixture could have been less. The police are still to establish the source of the Covidsheild which was procured by accused Dr Shivraj Pataria, his wife Nita and Dr Manish Tripathi.

The vaccination scam came to light after Hiranandani Heritage society in Kandivli approached the police complaining they were duped by Mahendra Singh and four others who administered fake vaccines to their society members on May 30. The society members claimed they received the vaccination certificates, but they had names of different hospitals and different dates, but when the residents checked the Co-WIN portal, their status was shown as “yet to receive the first dose.”

Thereafter, eight more cases have been filed at Versova, Borivli, Bangur Nagar and Khar, Samta Nagar police stations against the same group. So far, police have arrested 13 accused and are on the lookout for two more.