TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty & more recently became victims of being duped at a fake vaccination centre in Kolkata’s Kasba region. After the TMC MP got a hint of the scam, she alerted the officials. Later, a 28-year-old man was arrested for organizing the camp and duping several people.
TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty says she has busted a fake COVID vaccination drive in Kolkata
"I was approached by a man who introduced himself as an IAS officer & said he was running a special drive for transgenders & specially-abled persons & requested for my presence," she says(1/2) pic.twitter.com/UoF23f0rmm
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2021
Details
On June 24, the Kolkata Police held a 28-year-old man responsible for running a fake COVID-19 vaccination center. The man was posing to be an IAS officer who was working in association with the city’s municipal corporation.
While several hundreds of people were vaccinated in the fake center, the issue received publicity after the regional party’s MP Mimi Chakraborty herself got duped in the scam. Speaking to reporters, TMC’s Mimi Chakraborty claimed that she received an invitation from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s joint commissioner who claimed that the vaccine camp was organized for transgenders and specially-abled.
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“Went to get vaccinated to encourage others”: TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty
“The organiser requested me to be a part of it so that it encourages others to take the vaccine. I went there and to encourage others, I also took the jab. But after I took the vaccine, I didn’t receive any message about my vaccination status. When I asked them about the vaccination certificate, I was told that I will receive it in three to four days. Then, I got suspicious and asked them to stop the vaccination programme there,” Chakraborty said, as quoted by Indian Express.
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No ‘beneficiary’ received vaccination confirmation
Meanwhile, the police claimed that as the local authorities were not informed of such a camp scheduled for vaccination, they reached there and found that people had taken the queue for the ‘on-spot vaccination’. Along the lines of the TMC MP, none of the persons who got vaccinated receive any confirmation message regarding the same, nor did they receive the vaccine certificate.
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Culprit impersonated as Kolkata Municipal Corp’s Joint Commissioner
After the preliminary investigation, the police claimed that the person who was impersonating as the in charge of the camp, was also pretending to be Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s Joint Commissioner. The police also said that the man had forged documents, stamps of IAS officials to do so. Moreover, the man’s car was also seized on which a blue beacon was placed which represented the West Bengal Government. The police also said that the car had logo of the West Bengal government as well.
“Some documents, including a fake I-card of joint commissioner of KMC, visiting cards, requisition for collecting Covid vaccine from Swasta Bhavan were also recovered,” said the Deputy Commissioner in charge.
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Vials of dust & liquid seized
After the fake COVID-19 vaccination camp was busted, the police also seized several vials that consisted of dust and liquid. The samples of the vials have been sent for further forensic investigation. Moreover, the police also found a stash of Amikacin injections and fake Covishield labels at the office of the 28-year-old culprit.
The culprit is identified as Debanjan Deb and a case has been registered against him under the Indian Penal Code’s forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy sections
2000 Mumbaikars duped in fake vaccination scam
Meanwhile, a similar news emerged from the state of Maharashtra where over 2,000 people were duped in the fake vaccination camp. The camps were held at Mumbai and the police has arrested a syndicate of more than 10 people.
“We have also discovered eight more camps had been organized by this syndicate, and that most of the accused are common across all these crimes,” the police said. Reportedly, the accused scammed citizens with fake injections that consisted of salt water.
