Mumbai Police lodges FIR in housing society Covid jab scam case, 4 people held
The Mumbai Police has registered an FIR in the fake vaccination case in a housing society and has arrested four people.
After residents of a housing society in Mumbai’s Kandivali area claimed they were the victims of an elaborate “vaccination scam”, the Mumbai Police has lodged an FIR in the matter.
Four people have been arrested under sections of cheating and fraud.
Police also have detained one person named Karim in Madhya Pradesh's Satna in connection with the case. Karim allegedly ran away from Mumbai when the scam came to the public eye. He is suspected to be the supplier of vaccines.
The police are also investigating the validity of vaccines given to people. A report from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is awaited.
One more complaint filed against vaccination racket
Matchbox Pictures has filed a complaint against the alleged fraudulent vaccination of their staff. A written complaint at Mumbai's Versova police station has been filed. No case has been registered yet. The initial complaint was filed at the Kandivali police station. Both the complaints are being investigated.
Approximately 150 employees and family members of Matchbox Pictures were given their first shot of Covisheld vaccine on May 29, incidentally via SP Events, the same group of people who conducted the vaccination drive at Kandivali's Hiranandani Estate Society. The camp was organised by former hospital employee Rajesh Pandey and his associates like Sanjay Gupta.
Gupta is associated with SP Events, an event management company and he brought more clients for the vaccination drive. An employee of Matchbox Pictures on the condition of anonymity said, "We weren't given any vaccination certificates after receiving the jabs. The company said due to a backlog, our certificates would be issued a week later. We were worried because none of us experienced any post-vaccination symptoms."
A senior official from Versova police station said they are investigating the matter.
As part of a vaccination camp at Hiranandani Heritage Society on May 30, around 390 people received Covishield vaccines inside the society premises. Residents stated that a facilitator, Rajesh Pandey, got in touch with society committee members claiming to be a representative of Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. The vaccination drive was coordinated by one Sanjay Gupta, while a third person, Mahendra Singh, collected the money in cash from the society members.
Hitesh Patel, a resident of the housing society, said, "My son got himself vaccinated. For each dose, we paid Rs 1,260. After getting the vaccine, we did not receive any messages. I would like to point out that we were not allowed to take photos or selfies while getting vaccinated.”
At Rs 1260 per dose and 390 people receiving the vaccine, the society paid around Rs 5 lakh to the facilitator.