Doctor held for issuing fake COVID-19 report in Delhi; police say 75 people duped
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police have arrested a doctor and his two associates for issuing forged coronavirus test reports. The accused was identified as Dr Kush Bihari Parashar (34), a resident of Malviya Nagar, who was committing the forgery, alongwith Amit Singh and Sonu.
At least 75 people have been duped by the trio, police said. An FIR has been registered at Hauz Khas police station under relevant sections of IPC for cheating and forgery. The arrest came after a complaint lodged by a reputed diagnostic lab.
A senior police official said that Parashar and his associates would issue fictitious reports in the name of reputed private laboratories.
“During investigation, it was found that a person, who was running the business of providing nursing staff to patients, asked Dr Parashar for Covid testing of his nursing staff before hiring them. The doctor forged the reports, which were forwarded to the client through mobile phones. After seeing mistakes in the name, the person contacted the diagnostic centre and asked for the new reports with correction. It was then revealed that there was no test done at the lab and even Dr Parashar was not a member of the testing laboratory,” said the official.
During the cross examining the details of the patients who were issued the reports, it came to notice of the diagnostic centre that no such patient exists in their record.
“Parashar used to recommend patients for Covid-19 tests and collect the sample. With the help of coaccused Singh, he used to make forged test report of the renowned diagnostic centre or of the labs as desired by the patients,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) south.
The accused would send the fake reports in PDF format over Whatsapp. Dr Kush is an MD from Russia.
“He has admitted to having forged more than 75 test reports and issued in the name of multiple diagnostics centres. Further investigation is ongoing and efforts are being made to trace the other persons involved in the nexus,” said the DCP.