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Delhi: Doctor held for issuing fake Covid-19 certificates

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByShiv Sunny
Sep 04, 2020 12:57 PM IST

The and his aide were preparing fake Covid-19 test reports on their laptops and then sharing PDF copies on WhatsApp with their ‘patients’

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak appears to have led to the alleged misuse of Hippocrates’ oath until the law caught up with a south Delhi-based doctor (34) and his aide.

The doctor and his aide have issued at least 75 such fake test results and charged <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>2,400 from each of the recipients.(Sourced)
The doctor and his aide have issued at least 75 such fake test results and charged 2,400 from each of the recipients.(Sourced)

The duo would collect swab samples from suspected coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients or those seeking the viral infection tests for employment or travel reasons, dump their samples in dustbin and then issue them fake test results in the names of at least three diagnostic laboratories, the Delhi Police said on Friday.

Both the accused are in police custody.

The doctor and his aide have issued at least 75 such fake test results and charged 2,400 from each of the recipients, said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (south), Delhi Police.

“They did not have specific criteria for issuing the Covid-19 test results. If someone had symptoms, then they would issue a Covid-19 positive result. The asymptomatic people were issued Covid-19 negative results,” said DCP Thakur.

The accused have been identified as Dr Kush Parashar, a general physician who holds a postgraduate degree in medicine from Russia, and his aide, Amit Singh.

“Their cover was blown, when one of the recipients of the test results found a mismatch in his name and contacted the diagnostic centre to learn that the latter didn’t issue any such result,” said the DCP.

Similarly, two nurses, who were seeking jobs, needed to undergo Covid-19 tests. Their employer recommended them to get tested at Dr Parashar’s clinic.

“However, one of the nurses found her name to be spelled wrongly in the report. She called up the diagnostic centre, which had purportedly conducted the test, and sought a fresh report with the correction in her name’s spelling. The laboratory authorities perused through their records and found that her name didn’t exist in their records,” said the DCP.

An official from the diagnostic centre had a hunch about alleged wrongdoing and approached the Hauz Khas police station, where a case of cheating was registered.

“The chain of events was traced to Dr Kush Parashar. It turned out that he and his aide Singh were preparing fake Covid-19 test reports on their laptops and then sharing PDF (portable document format) copies on WhatsApp with their ‘patients’. The modus operandi didn’t raise any suspicion about the authenticity of the reports,” the DCP said.

Police said Dr Parashar would recommend Covid-19 tests to most of his patients, irrespective of their symptoms.

“Dr Parashar would tell his patients that he would collect the swab samples from them on behalf of a diagnostic laboratory and then send them to the laboratory to conduct Covid-19 test. But as soon as a patient left his clinic, he would dump the swab samples in dustbin,” the DCP added.

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