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Delhi

Fake health ministry official dupes people to the tune of Rs 15 crore in Delhi

The 48-year-old man has been identified as Prafulla Kumar Nayak, a resident of Odisha.

TNIE online desk

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi police has arrested a man accused of impersonating an officer of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and duping people to the tune of Rs 15 crore, Times of India reports.

The 48-year-old man has been identified as Prafulla Kumar Nayak, a resident of Odisha.

Quoting Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) Amrutha Guguloth, TOI said that a complaint was received from one Sunil Kaushik claiming that he was duped of Rs 4 crore under the pretext of receiving work orders for the transportation of Covid vaccines across different states during the pandemic in 2021. Four more similar complaints were received. Following this, a case was registered and the total amount cheated exceeded Rs 15 crore.

The accused and his accomplices contacted the complainants and offered to arrange work orders from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the transportation of Covid vaccines across the states. Thereafter they cheated the complainants, TOI report said.

Eight people, including the main orchestrator and two MTS staff of the Ministry of Health, were arrested in 2022. Nayak had been absconding since then. He was arrested on January 21, 2025.

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