A massive fraud in India .. salt and water vaccines to combat “Corona”

Authorities in India have revealed that thousands of people have fallen prey to a large-scale scam to sell fake coronavirus vaccines in India. Doctors and medical workers were among those arrested for their involvement in this fraud.

At least 12 fake vaccination campaigns have been set up in an area near Mumbai in the country's western state of Maharashtra, Vishal Thakur, a senior official at the Mumbai Police Department said.

"They were using salt water and injecting it (into people)" in "every fake vaccination camp they set up, they were doing that," Thakur said.

He revealed that an estimated 2,500 people were given dummy injections.

Of course, the organizers charged their victims for the doses, receiving up to $28,000 in total.

The police commissioner added that doctors who "were using a hospital that produces fake certificates, vials and syringes" were arrested.

So far, 14 people have been arrested on suspicion of fraud, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, and other charges.

Thakur said more arrests may come as police continue to investigate other people involved in the fraud, according to CNN.



India was hit by a second wave of coronavirus between April and early June, which infected millions and killed tens of thousands across the country.

After peaking in May, daily cases have slowly fallen, easing pressure on the strained medical system - and allowing authorities to ramp up their vaccination program while the country recovers.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a centralized vaccine campaign, in which a large proportion of the doses would be provided by the central government to the states for free.

But the fake vaccination campaigns took place between late May and early June, as authorities launched an investigation after some fraud victims reported to police that they suspected their vaccination certificates.

When the police began investigating, others took legal action on their own.

The public prosecutor in charge of the case confirmed that there were suspicions of 2,000 victims of fraud.

In the case file, the Bombay High Court said the allegations were "really appalling" and urged state and local authorities to take action "so that innocents are not deceived in the future".

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