Debanjan Deb was named in an FIR registered at the Amherst Street police station by North City College authorities for duping 72 people who received the shots on June 18. KMC approached Taltala police with a complaint alleging Deb had used his fake identity to get his name on a plaque of a bust of Rabindranath Tagore that was unveiled in the area by transport minister Firhad Hakim in the presence of other senior TMC MPs, ministers and MLAs on February 26. In a third complaint, a micro finance company alleged Deb had charged them Rs 1.1 lakh to arrange vaccination of 179 employees.
As complaints mounted, detective department sleuths took over the probe from Kasba police, took the accused to the false KMC office at Kasba and questioned him about the motive behind his actions.
“We wanted to know how many camps he had organized, where and how many people had been jabbed. We also wanted to know where he got the funds to maintain an office with so many staffers and a car with a driver and a security person. We have to find out about other frauds he may have committed,” said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
Sources said cops were hopeful about cracking the case by Friday. “We are looking at everything. It is unlikely he was the only one behind this charade,” said an officer.
On Friday morning, cops will question a woman who had close links with Deb. According to sources, though Deb called himself an IAS officer for the past four years, he began to use it for personal gain from the beginning of this year.
Cops said Deb had been trying to enter into MoUs, charging money from various institutes and companies with the promise of arranging Covishield jabs. Deb got access to North City College through a former student to whom he issued a fake KMC job appointment letter. He connected to the students through his “relief work” after Yaas. Similarly, he promised Sarala Development & Microfinance Pvt Ltd 179 jabs before asking them to pay Rs 1.1 lakh, MD Pranab Rakshit said.
Cops suspect that Deb used to conduct free mass vaccinations to popularize the drive and had begun sharing information about the camps on social media and WhatsApp groups. Meanwhile, the civic body is probing how he had used KMC banners and logos. According to a KMC health department official, a civic official had first spotted the camp nine days after the vaccination drive at Kasba was set up.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/police-cast-net-for-conmans-aides-lens-on-profit-motive/articleshow/83820951.cms
