PATNA: A police complaint was finally lodged against an 84-year-old Brahmadeo Mandal for allegedly taking at least 11 shots of Covid-19 vaccine at a primary health centre in Bihar's Madhepura district. He has been on non-bailable charges. The case was lodged on the statement of medical (in-charge) officer of community health centre at Puraini in Madhepura district, Dr. Vinay Krishna Prasad, on Saturday.
The station house officer (SHO) of Puraini police station Deepak Chandra Das said the accused (Mandal) has been booked under sections 188, 419 and 420 of Indian Penal Code. However, he may get benefit of section 41 for being an elderly citizen, he added.
Madhepura civil surgeon Dr. Amrendra Pratap Shahi said the case was registered against Mandal to prevent re-occurrence of such an incident. “It will set a precedent if action is not taken against the man in question,” he told TNIE.
In the complaint, the medical officer of the community health centre alleged that Mandal, a resident of Oray village, duped the health department employees and took jabs repeatedly in a span of 10 months.
The records of the health facility showed that Mandal was vaccinated at Puraini community health centre, health camp at Upgraded government middle school and Aray vaccination centre respectively.
The records revealed that Mandal, a retired employee of the postal department, was administered twin shots of the Covid19 vaccine at Puraini health facility on April 13, 2021.
In addition, two more shots were given to him on June 21 and July 24 last year. Mandal had earlier said that he used his Aadhar cards and voter identity card for the vaccine. “I felt better after every dose of the vaccine provided by the government free of cost,” he added.
Puraini medical officer (in-charge) Dr. Vinay Krishna said the case was registered against Mandal on the directive of senior officials of the health department.