Mumbai: First year dropout went around giving fake Covid-19 vaccine shots at camps

As officials seal Shivam Hospital and cancel its licence, mid-day gives the full structure of the scam with detailed role played by each accused

More shocking details emerged in the vaccination scam on Friday, even as authorities sealed Charkop-based Shivam Hospital, whose owners Dr Shivraj Pataria and his wife Nita are among the main accused, citing a host of violations. The police said one of the alleged scamsters, Anurag Tripathi, is a BSc dropout though he would identify himself as a doctor at the fake inoculation camps. mid-day profiles the players who took a short-cut only to end up on the long road to justice.

In a brazen display of greed and disregard for the law, the gang led by Dr Manish Tripathi, the Pataria couple and few others held bogus vaccination camps at several places, jabbing over 2,600 unsuspecting people with fake Covid-19 vaccine shots.

On Friday, the police took Anurag Tripathi into custody, taking the number arrested so far to 14. Sources said Anurag is a cousin of Dr Manish Tripathi and both lived together. Anurag was also taking care of his cousin’s bed-ridden father.

The police said Anurag identified himself as a doctor at many camps as he administered the jabs, while he dropped out after the first year of BSc.

mid-day has been consistently reporting on the case that has shaken the conscience of the city. Here are the alleged scamsters.

Nita Pataria

The wife of Dr Shivraj Pataria, Nita allegedly filled empty vaccine vials with saline water and collected money from camps. 

Shivraj Pataria

An MD and owner of Shivam Hospital. His role was to supply fake vaccines for the camps conducted by the gang.

Nita Pataria, Shivraj Pataria, Mahendra Singh, Shrikant Mane, Seema Ahuja, Rajesh Pandey, Anurag Tripathi and Manish Tripathi

Mahendra Singh

He was the brain behind many camps including the one at Hiranandani Heritage Society. He would also promise to obtain BMC permission for the drives. Cops say he was directly in touch with the Patarias and Manish. He collected fake vaccines from Shivam Hospital for the camps.

Seema Ahuja and Shrikant Mane

Both ran a tours and travels company. They arranged a camp at Dadar-based Poddar School. 

Rajesh Pandey

He used to work as a sales manager at Kokilaben hospital and would divert people to Shivam Hospital for vaccination. Shivam Hospital would give him R200 per person. He used his association with Kokilaben hospital to convince people for camps. 

Anurag Tripathi

The latest catch, Anurag is a BSc dropout. He came to Mumbai a few months ago and used to stay with his cousin Manish. Earlier, he used to take housing painting contracts. He introduced himself as a doctor.

Manish Tripathi

Another doctor runs the KCEP School of Medical and Paramedical Sciences in Kandivli near Shivam Hospital. Manish stored fake vaccines at his institute and used his students to give the jabs to the victims. He also organised many camps.

Rahul Dube, Sanjay Gupta, Chandan Singh, Gudiya Yadav, Karim Ali and Nitin Mode

Rahul Dube

Dube was the administration in-charge at Shivam Hospital. He told people that he is the adopted son of the Patarias. 

Sanjay Gupta

He ran an event company named but had to close it due to the lockdown. He would provide tables, chairs, tents and similar paraphernalia for the fake camps. The police say Sanjay was aware of the malpractice but chose to keep quiet. He also allegedly helped in getting customers and got commission.

Chandan Singh urf Lalit

He worked at Life Care hospital, Goregaon, from where he stole their CoWin login ID and password and issued many vaccination certificates. He was in touch with Mahendra Singh and Manish Tripathi. He charged R2,000 for 20 certificates.

Gudiya Yadav

The 22-year-old worked as a data entry operator at NESCO-1 Covid centre, Goregaon. She stole her colleague’s CoWin credentials. The other accused would WhatsApp lists of names and she would print vaccination certificates. 

Karim Ali

Karim Ali was a student of KCEP institute run by Manish. He carried vaccines from one place to another. He also refilled empty vials. 

Nitin Mode

Nitin Mode collected information from camps and would prepare lists for issuing vaccination certificates as directed by Mahendra Singh. 

14
No. of people arrested in the scam so far 

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