Kolkata fake jab drive: Accused charged with attempt to murder – Hindustan Times

: The Kolkata police on Saturday arrested three more persons in connection with the fake vaccination racket in the city. All accused, including main perpetrator Debanjan Deb, who was arrested Wednesday, has been booked under section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder), the police said.

The Kolkata Police has already formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a deputy commissioner of the detective department to probe if there was any larger conspiracy.

On Wednesday, Kolkata Police busted the racket allegedly run by Deb, 28, who was masquerading as a bureaucrat. Investigation so far has found that over 800 people, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mimi Chakraborty and family members of another TMC leader have received the fake jabs in camps held in north and south Kolkata. Similar camps were held in South 24 Parganas. The numbers could rise, police said.

“Police have arrested the accused persons. We have started health camps and all the victims would be vaccinated once we get a nod from medical experts. The BJP is doing nothing except raising wild allegations and criticizing,” said Atin Ghosh, a member of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) board of administrators.

Even though vials of Amikacin were recovered from the accused’s office prompting sleuths to suspect that some people may have been injected with the antibiotic, police are yet to ascertain what chemicals may have been used in the other camps.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is the leader of the opposition in the state legislate assembly, has sent a letter to the Union health minister seeking a probe into the incident by a central agency. BJP workers also hit the streets staging protests.

“The KMC has associated with this and TMC leaders had transactions with the accused. Now that the lid has been taken off, the leaders are washing their hands off. The government has formed an SIT to suppress the case. But what about those people who have been injected with fake jabs? Who will take their responsibility?” said Dilip Ghosh, president of BJP in West Bengal.

“Das had cheated at least two private firms and a contractor of nearly ₹1 crore while impersonating a senior IAS officer. We have arrested three persons. While two were signatory to the fake current bank accounts opened by Deb in a private bank to cheat people, the third was an employee in his office who took part in the fake jab camps,” said an official.

The BJP has already raised allegations that as Deb was seen with senior TMC leaders, including ministers, MPs and MLAs, he could be heaving links with the ruling party in multiple pictures.

“It is not possible for a public figure to check the credentials of every person in a public program. Anyone may come and click a picture with me,” said Firhad Hakim who was seen with Deb in one of the pictures.

A PIL has also been filed in the Calcutta high court seeking a CBI probe into the scam.