The government’s restrictions on movement and fresh rules by various States on RT-PCR tests has created a market for fake negative certificates. A similar trend was observed during the second wave of the pandemic last year.
The Economic Offences wing of the Bengaluru police’s Central Crime Branch raided a diagnostic centre in D.J. Halli on Friday and arrested two staffers who were allegedly issuing fake COVID-19 certificates to people who wanted to travel.
“The police team, which raided the diagnostic centre at Kaval Byrasandra, seized as many as 50 fake certificates,” police said. The initial probe revealed that the accused did not collect any swabs but issued certificates to their clients directly. “They collected money through e-wallets like Google Pay or by cash,” said a police officer.
According to the police, most of their clients were people who were travelling out of the city and needed to show that they did not have COVID-19. “The accused took advantage of the situation and sold fake reports,”the police officer added. The duo have been taken into custody for further investigations .
