Mumbai, May 5: A senior citizen was duped by an unidentified accused on the pretext of getting Remdesivir injection for a relative who was battling Covid-19. He was also in a critical state. The sexagenarian asked to make a payment through an e-wallet service and was asked to submit the relevant documents to get the injection. However, when the accused stopped entertaining calls after receiving the payment, he realised he was duped and approached Malad Police.
According to police, the incident occurred on May 2, when the complainant's sister-in-law was in dire need of Remdesivir injection and was asked by the hospital staff to procure it through the correct medium. In a bid to get leads on injection, the senior citizen, a resident of Kandivali (E), contacted the Covid-19 control room, which gave him a contact number of a doctor, who further directed him to a third party medical representative.
When the senior contacted the man to procure the injection, the latter said that he could provide the injection but he first needs to see the documentation like prescription, Covid reports and AADHAAR card details for authentication. The complainant obliged and sent over the documents, to which the man asked him to make a payment of ₹6,500 through a digital wallet. Since the complainant was not well versed with digital transactions, he asked his son to make the necessary payment.
Hours after the payment was through, the complainant waited for the receipt or leads for injection, but to no avail. After several hours passed by, and the man stopped answering his calls, the senior realised that he had been duped and approached Malad Police. While police registered the case and booked the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act for cheating, it was later transferred to Samta Nagar police station.
