Two arrested for selling fake vaccination certificates

Police officials said they had received a tip-off that a person was selling fake vaccination certificates in Kurla and accordingly laid a trap

Mumbai The Kurla police on Thursday arrested two 19-year-old men for allegedly selling fake vaccination certificates to unvaccinated people.

Accused demanded ₹3,000 for both the fake vaccination certificates – for first and both the doses against Covid-19 (HT File)

Police officials said they had received a tip-off that a person was selling fake vaccination certificates in Kurla and accordingly laid a trap and with the help of Lubna Ansari, assistant medical officer of L-Ward, sent a dummy customer to the accused of acquiring the fake certificate.

The dummy customer met one of the accused, Zuber Shaikh, a Wadala resident, who demanded ₹3,000 for both the certificates – for first and both the doses against Covid-19. Assistant police inspector Sushant Bangar, from Kurla police station, said they arrested Shaikh as he downloaded the certificates which had the seal of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

In his interrogation, Shaikh revealed the name of his accomplice Alfez Hassan Khan (19), who was responsible for getting the certificates prepared. The police raided Khan’s house in Wadala and arrested him on Wednesday evening.

Police officers said the teenagers were making fake vaccination certificates with help of doctors from Pratapgad in Uttar Pardesh. “When we questioned Khan, he told us that he was in contact with a man in Pratapgad who got the certificates made from local doctors and then sent them to Khan through email,” said Bangar. The teenagers also revealed that they had given fake certificates to several people.

The duo is booked under sections 420, 465,468, 471, 188, 269, 270 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery and flouting Covid-19 norms and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The police are now trying to trace the doctors and the contact person from Pratapgarh who was sending the fake certificates to the boys in Mumbai and whether the scam was being carried out in other parts of the city as well.