The Central unit of the Navi Mumbai police’s Crime Branch has busted a gang that issued fake COVID-19 negative test reports.
The accused have been identified as Sajeed Dawood Upadhye (47) from Kharghar, Aniket Raju Dudhawade (21) from Ghatkopar, and Rahul Rajendra Pandey (26) from Palghar. The Central unit had received information that Mr. Upadhye was issuing fake negative test reports at ₹2,500.
On May 3, senior police inspector Nivrutti Kolhatkar sent a decoy to Mr. Upadhye for procuring a negative test report. The accused asked for the decoy’s Aadhaar card details, mobile number and ₹2,000 as advance.
The accused then issued him a negative test report in two days. On May 6, the Central unit team arrested Mr. Upadhye and his two accomplices. “From the accused’s phone, we recovered several similar fake reports with the letterhead of Thyrocare. The accused have been remanded in police custody till Tuesday,” Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh Tambe said.
According to the police, the three accused are graduates. While Mr. Upadhye ran a food stall, the other two worked in a private firm. They had been running the racket for the past one month, the police said.
Accomplice on the run
While Mr. Upadhye looked out for shopkeepers, workers and travellers in need of a negative COVID-19 test report, Mr. Dudhawade and Mr. Pandey forged the reports. The police are now on the lookout for another gang member who is absconding. It is suspected that the accused provided such fake reports to several people in Navi Mumbai, Raigad and Thane.
