Jadavpur MP Mimi Chakraborty was invited to one such camp held here Kasba Tuesday and decided to take my first shot there. He got suspicious when he didn’t get a confirmation SMS after being shot. When she contacted the organisers, she was told that a certificate would be sent to her after four days. At this point, Chakraborty took up the matter with senior police officials.
“The organizers told me it was a vaccination camp for transpersons and people with disabilities. I immediately accepted the invitation and decided to take the jab to encourage others. When I realized that I had been misled, I immediately informed the police,” Chakraborty told TOI.
According to the police, at least 250 people have received some ‘shot’ at the fake Kasba centre, in the last six days. Investigation further revealed that Deb had organized similar fake camps in North and Central Kolkata, one at City College in North Kolkata and the other in Kolkata on June 3. Sonarpur. While Deb told the police that he had procured the “real” vaccines “from Bagri Bazaar” and “outside Swasthya Bhavan”, hundreds of people in these fake camps, including Chakraborty, who could have been injected as a Covid vaccine, Worried are not available in the open market.
“We have decided to send samples for testing. If we find that it is placebo (normal saline) or any other vaccine, we will ask the recipients to re-jab,” the DC (SSD) said. Rashid Munir Khan
The KMC on Wednesday decided to launch a probe into the matter as the organizers used the civic body’s vaccination banner to attract residents. “It is a matter of great concern to us that our banner and logo were used for such a campaign. Now we need to know the source of the vaccine vials. If we find any involvement of our officials, we will definitely track them down,” said KMC Board of Administrators (BoA) Firhad Hakim.
Taking a lesson, the KMC has decided to make it mandatory for the organizers of all off-site vaccination camps, including private hospitals, to obtain prior approval from the civic body’s health department.
Deb, the family claimed that he has MSc in Genetics and wanted to crack the UPSC exam. His father, a retired excise officer, said he was unaware of his son’s activities. The police have seized several fake ID cards from Deb; One introduced him as an IAS officer posted in the Ministry of Information and Culture and the other as the Joint Municipal Commissioner of KMC. His car was fitted with a beacon and KMC stickers.
Police said they are not yet sure about the motive of the accused, but are probing why Deb retained signed photocopies of each recipient’s Aadhaar card. “The car he used belongs to him. He claimed that he wanted to popularize an NGO he was leading, but this NGO is not even registered. We are trying to ascertain his exact motives,” said an official of Kasba police station.
“Deb has made vague statements so far. we plan to take her Excavator Market and Swasthya Bhavan as part of our investigation,” said an official.
On how Deb’s fake camps escaped the radar, DC Khan said, “Many NGOs are organizing camps and giving free vaccines to the poor. So in the beginning he was not even suspicious. When we came to know about this, we raided and arrested him.
watch Mimi Chakraborty busts fake COVID-19 vaccination camp in Kolkata
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