Fake vaccine scam: Mumbai Police file 2000-page charge sheet against 11 at Borivali Court

On Friday, Mumbai Police filed a 2,000-page long charge sheet at a Borivali Magistrate court in connection with the first instance of fraudulent vaccination at Kandivali’s Hiranandani Heritage Housing Society.

A charge sheet was filed against 11 accused encompassing two doctors and nine others. According to the police official, statements of about 500 people have been recorded in the charge sheet. A total of 390 people were vaccinated at Hiranandani Heritage Society on May 30.

According to the information mentioned in the charge sheet, the police have informed that the entire fake vaccine camp was organised with the intention of earning money. 

Mumbai Police files charge sheet against fraudulent vaccination camp

Mumbai police filed the charge sheet under the sections like an Attempt to murder and Destruction of evidence. A total of 10 such fake vaccine camps were organised in Mumbai, after which the Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, ordered to form an SIT, in charge given to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vishal Thakur. DCP Thakur was given the responsibility of investigating all the cases registered in the city.

According to the senior officer in Mumbai Police, They have much evidence against the accused involved in the case which indicates how serious this crime was committed and it was done with the intention of earning money.

Sources confirmed the names of the accused mentioned in the charge sheet as Doctor Shivraj Pataria, his wife Neeta Pataria, who runs Shivam Hospital in Kandivali, Manish Tripathi, a dentist in the profession and runs a nursing institute near the Shivam Hospital, Karim Akbar Ali (student at Manish’s Institute of Nursing), Mahendra Pratap Singh (former employee of Malad Medical Institute), Sanjay Gupta (Mahendra’s friend and an event manager), Rajesh Pandey (friend of Mahendra and former employee of Kokilaben Hospital), Rahul Dubey, an employee in Shivam Hospital, Gudiya Yadav, Nitin Monde and Chandan Singh alias Lalit. 

Sources further say Gudiya Yadav, Nitin Monde and Chandan Singh used to do data entry work in a private hospital and work in a Covid Care centre.

In a charge sheet, it is mentioned that Patatia, Dubey and Tripathi had worked to compile the fake vaccine, whereas Ali helped to transport it. Besides, Singh and Gupta organised the vaccine camp. Pandey lied that Kokilaben Hospital was also involved in the organised camp and thus helped Singh and Gupta.

Apart from this, the three data operators have arranged forged certificates that were taken from the private hospitals and NESCO Covid Care centre in Goregaon. The work of issuing the certificate was executed using the user name and password of the CoWin app.

In the charge sheet, the police have also attached the letter from the Shivam Hospital which stated that the hospital did not issue any permission to organise such vaccine camps. Shivam hospital has been sealed by the BMC and the licence of the hospital has been permanently withdrawn. 

In total, the statement of 390 people of the said society has been recorded, and apart from this, the statement of six people including Rohini Patel and Ajit Benwasi has been recorded before the magistrate under section 164, as witnesses as these were present with the accused during the vaccination drive.

Money trial mentioned in the charge sheet says that the accused earned around Rs. 4.9 lakhs from the scam. The police have seized the empty bottles from the Shivam Hospital, which have been sent to FSL. The report is still awaited.

(Image Credits: PTI)