Seventh man arrested in fake vaccination racket in Kolkata – Hindustan Times

A man, who rented out his office space to the mastermind of the fake vaccination racket in Kolkata, was arrested by sleuths of the Special Investigation Team on Wednesday night.

“The man Ashok Kumar Roy, in his 50s, not only rented out his office space in south Kolkata to Debanjan Deb, but also got at least 50 of his relatives and friends to get the fake vaccine,” said a senior police officer, adding that Roy knew about the racket.

Last week, Kolkata Police had busted a racket allegedly run by Deb, 28, who was masquerading as a bureaucrat. Over 800 people, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mimi Chakraborty, were duped into taking the fake vaccines. Police suspect they were injected with Amikacin, an antibiotic. Police had earlier arrested six persons, including Deb.

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The Centre has sought a report from the West Bengal government by Thursday on the fake vaccination racket even as the Calcutta high court directed the state government to file an affidavit by Friday.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have alleged Deb shared close links with TMC leaders, including ministers, after their pictures together surfaced. TMC leaders have rubbished the charges.

“It was an isolated case. The state government was not associated with this. Strong actions have been taken the moment we received complaints. The health department is in touch with the victims. We will vaccinate all of them,” Mamata Banerjee, chief minister, had said at the state secretariat on Wednesday.