Mumbai fake vaccination scam: Main accused surrenders after bail is denied

A main accused in the fake vaccination scam Dr Manish Tripathi was arrested by the police on Tuesday after he surrendered himself On the other hand the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos BMC health department revoked Shivam Hospitalrsquos permission to treat Covid19 patients The hospital owners Dr Shivraj Pataria and his wife Nita are one of the main accused in the scam The hospital was told to not admit any new Covid19 patientsDr Manish Tripathi allegedly organised fake vax campsIn another development the Kandivli police also arrested main accused Dr Manish Tripathi after he surrendered himself to the policePolice also seized Shivam Hospitalrsquos CCTV camera footage computers and data So far the police have found that around 500600 vials of Covishield vaccine were not returned by Shivam Hospital to the BMC after the vaccination drive ended at the hospitalAssistant Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Kurhade said ldquoWe revoked permissions given to Shivam Hospital to operate as a Covid19 hospital after we found many violations at the hospital We also instructed them to not admit any new Covid19 patients and treat existing Covid19 patients till they are recovered Shivam Hospital violated BMCrsquos protocols and cheated many people on the pretext of giving vaccines We will take the strictest action against the hospitalrdquoWith regard to Dr Tripathi police have found that he too organised many vaccination camps in the city with the help of Shivam HospitalSame vials used everywhereA police source said ldquoThe Patarias did not return around 500600 empty Covishield vials to the BMC after the vaccination drive at their hospital ended in Aprilend These vials were allegedly used by Dr Tripathi and Mahendra Singh at various vaccination camps The empty vials were refilled with saline by the Patarias The same bottles were used at all campsrdquoAccused Mahendra Singh Shivraj Pataria and Nita PatariaPolice have also found that arrested students Gudiya Yadav and Karim Ali were captured on CCTV cameras at various places where the vaccination camps were organised They were able to jab people as they are paramedical studentsAnother 580 affectedOn Monday the Samta Nagar police received a complaint from the Intercontinental Diamonds LIP a fashion accessories store at Ashok Chakravarti Road Ashok Nagar Kandivli East The company accused Dr Tripathi and Singh of arranging a camp at their office and giving fake vaccines to their 580 staff and their families The camp was conducted on April 23 and 24 at the companyrsquos premisesSenior Inspector Anandrao Haake of Samta Nagar police station said ldquoWe received a complaint from Intercontinental Diamond LIP and have informed the BMC regarding the matter On Tuesday a BMC team visited the companyrsquos office with us for the investigation We have not registered an FIR yet and are probing furtherrdquoThe building that houses the Intercontinental Diamond LIPrsquos office at Ashok Nagar Kandivli EastSo far 10 complaints have been received by the Mumbai police across the city and seven FIRs have been filed Apart from the case filed by Hiranandani Heritage society with Kandivli police six more have been filed at Versova Borivli Bangur Nagar and Khar police stations against the same accused people The Kandivli police have so far arrested 11 accused and are on the lookout for two moreOn Tuesday during a hearing on PILs on the accessibility of vaccines the Bombay High court ordered the police to investigate the matter freely and without any political pressure It ordered the police to conduct an indepth enquiry and to arrest any politician MLA or authority if they interfere in the investigation600Approx no of Covishield vials the Patarias saved for the scam