The Kankurgachhi clinic, which doesn’t have the permission to conduct Covid-19 tests, had done at least six such tests before its proprietor was arrested on Wednesday, police have said.

The health department had sealed Tribeni Clinic the same day.

Of the six tests, one was conducted on the proprietor of the clinic, Ratan Lal Gupta, to rule out the presence of the virus, Gupta has apparently told cops.

Covid-19 test reports have to be mandatorily shared with the state health department. But the reports generated at the clinic were not shared with the government, the police said.

Gupta is currently in police custody.

According to government rules, no diagnostic laboratory in the country can conduct tests to detect Covid-19 without the approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Dr Lal’s Pathlabs, Tata Medical Center and Suraksha Diagnostic in New Town, AMRI Hospitals Salt Lake, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals and Peerless Hospital are the five private facilities in Calcutta, which have the ICMR’s approval to conduct Covid-19 tests.

The government facilities that have the ICMR’s approval to conduct tests are SSKM Hospital, NICED, School of Tropical Medicine, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Command Hospital and the New Town unit of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute.

The ICMR protocol says an individual cannot just walk into a laboratory to get tested. A doctor’s prescription is needed to undergo the test.

“We are still to find out if any of the six samples tested at the clinic are positive. The reports are in the official computer, which has been sealed by the state health department,” an officer of Phoolbagan police station said.

The police had started an investigation following specific information about the alleged malpractice at the clinic.

“The proprietor, who himself is a doctor, had been cheating people claiming he could conduct Covid-19 tests at his clinic and get the results faster than anyone else,” the officer said. “He used to charge Rs 4,000 for each test, which is slightly less than what is charged in authorised private hospitals.”

The police are still to find out the source of the clinic’s test kits. The doctor has said he had used genuine kits for the tests but its source is still to be traced, an officer said.