Mumbai: Eight people have been arrested in connection with the vaccination of more than 2,000 people at fake Covid vaccination camps across Mumbai. Accused have been charged with attempted homicide, which is equivalent to murder. Manish Tripathi, the main accused in the case, who has filed seven FIRs, is absconding. Another accused in the case, Ashish Mishra of Aditya College of Architecture, has not been arrested. The court rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of Mishra and another accused Rajesh Pandey. 12.40 lakh was recovered from the accused.
Joint Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil said the bank accounts of the main accused Manish Tripathi and Mahendra Singh were frozen. Chief Public Prosecutor Deepak Thackeray on Thursday submitted a preliminary report on the probe into allegations of fake vaccination in a sealed envelope.
According to police, the bottles labeled “Covishield” used to administer the fake vaccine were recovered from Gujarat. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation has written to the Serum Institute, which manufactures Covishield, to help find the batch numbers of these exports. According to the High Court, 2,053 people were vaccinated illegally in camps in different parts of the city.
Anil Sakhar, a lawyer appearing for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, said he had lodged a complaint with the police immediately after the incident came to his notice. Gudia Yadav, who worked in the data entry department at the Nesco Covid Center in Goregaon, was eventually arrested in connection with the incident. Vaccination information was illegally registered on the Cowin portal with the help of Gudia. Police say Manish Tripathi is the mastermind behind the scam.
