A community health officer engaged in Covid-19 vaccinations has been arrested in Jharkhand’s Sahebganj district for providing fake vaccination certificates to migrant workers in exchange of money.
The officer employed on contract has been identified as Mangni Ram Tandi. He is in his mid-30s and was posted as the community health officer (CHO) at a primary health centre in Rajmahal sub-division, officials said on Monday. Sahibganj police said that they were on the lookout for another health officer, Kripan Mina, who worked as Tandi’s accomplice.
Deputy commissioner Ramnivas Yadav said this was the first such instance in Jharkhand since Covid vaccinations began in January. “Yesterday (Sunday), a video had gone viral where Tandi was shown dealing with an unidentified person for arranging Covid-19 vaccinations for around 60 migrant workers. As per the deal being discussed, each certificate would cost Rs 400-Rs 500. We launched a crackdown soon after,” the police officer said.
Tandi, the police revealed, was from Rajasthan, but was working in Jharkhand on contract for about a year.
Yadav said that prima facie evidence indicated that the accused was providing fake vaccination certificates. “They used to edit an original vaccination certificate of a genuine beneficiary who took the jab to include the name of some other person and provided printouts of the same on payment,” he explained, adding that a full-fledged investigation has been ordered to understand the extent of the fraud.
Police sources said an FIR was filed against Tandi on Sunday night by deputy superintendent of Rajmahal sub divisional hospital Dr Sanjay Kumar. “Before that, we had picked him up, but he used the name of another CHO (Kripan Mina) to identify himself. We learnt that about four-five persons were running the racket of fake certificates. we need to find out how many certificates were issued and since when,” said a police officer.
Vaccination is mandatory for every eligible person while travelling. The demand is high among migrant workers ready to leave the state for work again.
