Fake vaccination scam: How did scamsters source vials bound for Gujarat?

The recently filed charge sheet in the vaccination scam has revealed that the vials used were supposed to be routed to Daman and Silvassa in Gujarat According to the policersquos investigation the batch numbers on the vials show that they were supplied by HLL Lifecare Limited Thiruvananthapuram to Central Drugs Testing Laboratory CDTL Mumbai CentralFrom here they were supposed to be sent to Gujarat The mystery now is how exactly did the vials end up with Shivam HospitalShivraj Pataria owner of Shivam Hospital and one of the main accusedThe batch numbers according to the 2000page charge sheet have also been mentioned on the fake vaccination certificates issued to around 390 residents of the Hiranandani Heritage society in Kandivli The certificates bore the names of Nanavati Hospital NESCO COVID centre and Lifeline Medicare Hospital GoregaonThe Serum Institute of India SII has said to the police that the batch numbers on the vials were destined for Gujarat Police are yet to figure out how the vials ended up in MumbaiAlso read Fake vaccination scam In 2000page charge sheet police say accused only wanted moneyOne of the vials used in the fake vaccination scamThe Covishield vial batch numbers in question are 4121Z037 and 4121Z085 These are also mentioned on the provisional vaccination certificates which the accused created for Hiranandani Heritage residents The vials were supplied between March 6 and April 26The SII has also told the Mumbai police that Shivam Hospital required one lakh doses of Covishield but that they never supplied any doses to the hospital Police are verifying how Shivam Hospital brought the vials meant for Gujarat to Mumbai and how the batch numbers were mentioned on certificates of Mumbai residents Each batch has around 23 to 24 lakh vials of 10 doses eachForensic testsThe Kandivli police had sent the empty vials to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories FSL Kalina and the results of the analysis are awaited Empty vials were also sent to the Haffkine Institute in Parel The institute has told the police that the tests would take time as COVID19 and the Covishield are a new disease and vaccine respectivelySeized itemsThe police have seized eight vials of Covishield vaccine and 10 ml sterile water for injection IP an empty vial of Covaxin 100 ml sodium chloride injection and CCTV footage from Shivam HospitalWitnessesSo far the Kandivli police have recorded statements of 623 people including 503 witnesses The witnesses include police BMC personnel and hospital staffThe accused in the scam are Mahendra Singh 39 Sanjay Gupta 29 Nitin Monde 32 Chandan Singh 32 Chandan Singh 32 Mohammad Karim Ali 19 Gudiya Yadav 24 Shivraj Pataria 62 Nita Pataria 60 Manish Tripathi 26 Rajesh Pandey 47 and Rahul Dubey 33 The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code the IT Act the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management ActMahendra and Dubey are involved in destroying evidence mdash while the former disposed of all mobile phones used in the scam Dubey destroyed 38 vaccine vials at Panvel Nitin Chandan and Yadav stole IDs and passwords for the CoWIN portalStudents threatenedMain accused Tripathi who ran the KCEP School of Medical and Paramedical Sciences made his students work in the vaccination camp by threatening to cut 150 marks He created a WhatsApp group called KCEP Yoddha where the students were added Two such students told the police that they had visited Hiranandani Heritage society for the vaccination camp on May 30 and that they found the seals of the vaccine vials to be broken When they questioned Tripathi about it they were told that all vials come in this state Tripathi also promised the students passing certificates and Rs 1500 for working in the camp However none of the students has received the passing certificates or payments Tripathi also conducted trials at his institute on giving the vaccine where injections were filled with sterile water and students practised by administering them to each otherFIRs so farThere are total 12 FIRs in the scam registered at various city police stations in Mumbai mdash Kandivli Borivli two FIRs Bangur Nagar MIDC Khar Versova Amboli Samta Nagar Bhoiwada Naupada and Andheri police stations One FIR was also registered at Rabale police station in Navi MumbaiMalad doctor cheatedA 66yearold MBBS doctor from Malad was also cheated by accused Mahendra The doctor has been made a witness in the charge sheet by the policeThe doctor runs his clinic at Upper Govind Nagar Malad East and Singh used to regularly visit his clinic to provide sanitisers and masks The duo had met at Malad Medical Association where Singh was working as a clerk On April 22 Singh provided the doctor with 38 vials of the Covishield vaccine to conduct a vaccination drive and charged Rs 4250 per vial Singh had brought all the vials from Shivam Hospital After completion of the drive Singh took back all empty vials and promised to provide vaccination certificates for all recipients In all the doctor paid Singh Rs 161500 but never received the certificates390No of residents vaccinated at Hiranandani Heritage society Kandivli