Mumbai: Two more FIRs were lodged at Samta Nagar and Amboli police stations on Wednesday in connection with the 'fake' vaccination drive conducted at various spots in the city, taking the total number of FIRs to 10. While Samta Nagar Police have booked Dr. Manish Tripathi, Dr Anurag, Roshni Patel and Qareem Ali, for allegedly administering fake vaccines to 618 people at Intercontinental Diamond in Kandivali (E), Amboli Police have booked Rajesh Pandey and others for allegedly administering fake vaccines to 218 people. Police said the vaccination drive was conducted on April 23, 24 and 28 in Samta Nagar while the FIR was registered on the complaint of a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official in Amboli on June 4.
According to police sources, the vaccination drive was conducted around the time when Shivam Hospital was given permission by the BMC to administer vaccines as a private COVID vaccination centre (PCVC), valid till April 28. The beneficiaries, however, did not receive any certificates from the CoWin app, raising a suspicion of the vaccine's authenticity. Senior inspector of Samta Nagar police station, Anandrao Haake, said that employees of four companies were administered vaccines by Roshni and Qareem, along with Dr. Manish Tripathi and one Dr. Anurag.
"As of now names of Mahendra Singh and other aides have not cropped up in the probe but whosever names come up in the investigation for organising the vaccination drive, we will add their names in the FIR. Name of Shivam Hospital, too, has not come up in the investigation," said senior inspector Haake. Meanwhile, the BMC is probing the matter to ascertain if the vaccines given to the beneficiaries were authentic or not.
In Amboli police station, Rajesh Pandey and others have been booked for allegedly giving fake vaccines to 218 people, and charged ₹3,07,476 by showing that he is an employee of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, following which he arranged the fake vaccination camp. The complainant in this matter said that the accused had administered fake vaccines. No accused has been arrested in the matter.
Earlier, two FIRs were registered at Borivali, and one each at Kandivali, Khar, Versova, Naupada, Bhoiwada, Bangur Nagar and the latest being at Samta Nagar and Amboli police stations. Meanwhile, the residents of Hiranandani Heritage, who were the first to lodge a complaint in the fake vaccination drive at Kandivali Police, have submitted an application in the Borivali magistrate court, requesting the court to add serious sections of the Indian Penal Code in the case as all the victims had fallen ill after taking the vaccinations and want a blood test be done on them.
Police are still on the lookout for Rajesh Pandey, who has been on the run since the fake vaccination camp was unearthed. During the probe, Kandivali Police have found a few vials of vaccines in the panchnama and the investigation is underway.
