Second case of fake COVID test busted by Kolkata Police, imposter arrested

In a major breakthrough, Kolkata Police arrested an imposter who conducted fake COVID tests, disguised as an employee from a prominent private hospital in Kolkata. Soumitra Chaudhary, the alleged imposter was arrested by Kolkata Police on Tuesday. 

An F.I.R. was registered against the accused person for dishonestly and fraudulently creating one fake and impersonating WhatsApp message which had a link page of www.Wbhealth.gov.in. He also circulated it in various WhatsApp groups, wherein the accused person impersonated himself as representative of MEDICA Superspeciality Hospital. Chaudhary collected samples for the COVID-19 test from the general public and induced them to pay the excessive amounts fixed by the Health Department of state of West Bengal.

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The arrest of Chaudhary

The police complaint happened when authorities of the hospital, came across multiple inquiries of people who were tested. A police complaint was lodged at Jadavpur Purba( East) police station by the hospital management.

"In course of further investigation acting upon source information the accused person named Soumitra Choudhury who is 39 years was arrested on 04.08.2020 at about 02:45 hrs from near Mukundapur Bus Stand on Mukundapur Road , under Purba Jadavpur Police Station. He was arrested for having direct complicity into the mentioned case, observing all legal formalities of arrest with mobile number and will be produced before Alipore court." said a senior Kolkata Police officer.

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The arrest of Chaudhary marks the arrest of second such a case in the city. A week earlier, 3 were arrested for running an illegal COVID testing facility. The victim, a South Kolkata resident, reported symptoms in the last week of July and on July 25, his samples were collected by the accused from his home as he was not in a position to visit the lab. After two days, the accused sent a report on WhatsApp which claimed that the victim didn't have COVID-19.

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