Mumbai: 35-year-old held for forging Covid reports, duping patient

He got the job as a technician only 10 days ago and was also responsible for collecting swabs from suspected patients.

The complainant, Meher Lamberaj, wanted to admit her mother, a cancer patient, to a hospital on May 31. As hospitals have been refusing to admit patients who have not undergone Covid-19 tests, she contacted Shaikh directly decided to get her mother tested, as he was familiar with her uncle.

Shaikh went to her residence to collect her mother’s swabs, charged her Rs 6,000 and left, said an officer. “As Shaikh did not contact her, Lamberaj called him the next day, following which he went to her uncle’s place and handed him the report… The woman found something amiss… she contacted the lab, which was supposed to test the sample, and found that her mother’s swabs were not sent to it for testing at all,” the officer added. Lamberaj then went to Tardeo police station and got a case lodged against him.

With the help of his call data records, the police traced Shaikh and brought him to the police station. During questioning, he confessed and was arrested.

“He is survived by his wife and two children. He said he had lost his job recently and was yet to draw salary from his new job. He ran out on cash to feed his family,” the officer said, adding they are verifying whether he has duped others as well.