More than just vaccine scammers: Hospital was destroying proof, say residents

Investigation into the vaccination scam has so far revealed that the scamsters mixed leftover Covishield vaccine with saline This was used to vaccinate over 2000 people across nine locations in the city In addition a local social worker has claimed that Shivam Hospital owned by Dr Shivraj Pataria 61 and his wife Nita Pataria 60 does not have an Occupancy Certificate The hospital was served a notice by MHADA in 2019 The agency had also asked Charkop police to seal the premisesOn Friday the Patarias and five other accused were remanded to police custody till June 28 midday also learnt from society members residing above the hospital that the Patarias forced them to sell their flats to the hospital So far 10 people have been arrested in the scamA resident of Shrenik Society where Shivam Hospital is located said ldquoThe couple has tried to make us sell our flats to them many times and has also threatened us The society has only three flats left that are not owned by the hospital All the flats the Patarias purchased have been merged with the hospital The doctors and staff cut our drainage line and harass us so we would sell our flats The chairman secretary and treasurer of the society are also doctors and their kin The hospital once ran a water bill of Rs 39000 which we society members had to footrdquoSociety members further claimed ldquoAround 15 days ago the hospital staff appeared to be destroying some evidence on the first floor They are also tearing papers During the vaccination camp many people were jabbed late in the night We too got vaccinated at the hospital Now we suspect that we too got fake vaccinesrdquoA police source said ldquoShivraj used to work at a private hospital in Kandivli and Nita used to be a storekeeper there The duo fell in love and got married Nita used to present herself as a doctor to patients Shivam Hospital is also a police line where police personnel get treatment free of cost This is how the hospital gained influence with officers and misused itrdquoNo fire NOCSocial worker Alex Nadar from Charkop had complained to MHADA Maharashtra Housing amp Area Development Authority about the irregularities in the structure of the hospital in 2018Joint Commissioner of Police law and order Vishwas Nangre Patil during a press conference on Friday PicSuresh KarkeraNadar told midday ldquoOn 24 July 2018 I complained to the MHADA about the illegalities in Shivam Hospital Six shops on the societyrsquos ground floor have been combined by cutting the pillars to form the hospital The hospital also built a structure on drainage and duct area which is covered and used to store medical appliances and cloths The hospital has used up the buildingrsquos open space Open space inside the societyrsquos premises has been used to create juice and tea shops for hospital visitors Among other things the hospital does not have adequate fire fighting system has violated FSI has no emergency exitrdquoldquoShivraj has been running Shivam hospital without obtaining an Occupancy Certificate OC from the competent authority against the approved plan and without a fire NOC In response to an RTI I had filed I discovered that they do not have a fire NOC On November 20 2019 MHADA ordered that the hospital be sealed Charkop police were informed and police personnel were sent for the sealing But the owners used their influence and took a stay orderrdquo Nadar saidmidday has a copy of the MHADA letter asking the hospital to stop functioningMoney recovered another FIRVishwas Nangre Patil joint commissioner of police law and order said on Friday that the police have arrested 10 people in the scam so far and recovered R1240 lakh which was taken as vaccination feeSocial worker Alex NadarApart from cheating and forgery the accused have also been charged under Section 308 intention or knowledge and under such circumstances that if he by that act caused death he would be guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder of the Indian Penal Code ldquoPeople who got the fake vaccines did not have any side effects but would have been confident of not contracting Covid19 This could have proved fatalrdquo Nangre Patil saidSo far Kandivli Borivli Bangur Nagar Versova Khar and Bhoiwada police stations have registered FIRs related to the case On Friday Naupada police also registered an FIR after a company from Thane said that the arrested accused conducted a vaccination camp and jabbed 116 people Of these only four got certificates after getting the vaccine The accused took Rs 116 lakh from the company The FIR has been filed against Shrikant Mane Sanjay Gupta Seema Ahuja Karim Ali and main accused Mahendra SinghMeanwhile the sessions court reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Dr Manish Tripathi who is absconding till June 28