Kolkata vaccine scam: Accused told police he wrote to Serum Institute for Covishield

KOLKATA: Twenty-eight-year-old Debanjan Deb, who was arrested for setting up dubious inoculation camps in the city, claimed during an interrogation that he had written to Pune's Serum Institute seeking Covishield vaccines, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police said on Sunday.

Deb, who had impersonated as a joint commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, also insisted that he had set up two fake camps in the city, and not multiple ones, as suggested by many quarters, the officer told reporters.

"Sleuths, so far, have unearthed eight bank accounts which were used by the accused to carry out his criminal activities. Ten others, who worked under him at some point, have been summoned for questioning," the senior officer said.

During investigation, the police also found out that the 28-year-old used to write letters to various government agencies and "put receipt stamps on those to convince people", he said.

"Debanjan has confessed conducting two vaccination camps -- one in City College on Amherst Street and the other at his office at Kasba. He also claimed that he had written a mail to a Serum Institute official seeking Covishield vaccines. We are verifying his claims," the officer noted.

Apart from the ten who have been summoned by the police, several others are being cross-examined for their alleged association with Deb, he pointed out.

"Deb had created an email account using gsuite for his activities.

Stamps of various offices, including those of KMC, Public Works Department and West Bengal State Election Commission, were found in his possession," he said.

The Kolkata Police had on Saturday slapped attempt- to-murder charge on Deb and three of his associates along with other sections of the IPC.

Actor and Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty, who had taken her jab at the Kasba camp set up by Deb, was the first to raise alarm as she did not receive the customary SMS sent by government after inoculation.