This story is from June 4, 2020

Mumbai: Woman conned with fake report by lab ex-staff

Mumbai: Woman conned with fake report by lab ex-staff
Photo for representative purpose only
MUMBAI: A Tardeo woman, who ordered a home test for her elderly mother, was allegedly duped by an ex-employee of a laboratory who gave her a fake Covid report without submitting samples. Tardeo police registered an FIR following a complaint by Meher Lamberaj (39).
Lamberaj said her 65-year-old mother appeared to need hospitalisation last week but a private hospital said she would be kept in a holding area till she tested negative.
The option was to produce a Covid report and get admitted. “My uncle knew Abdul Gaffar Khan, who had done his test a fortnight back. He agreed to come home and collect by mother’s samples for Rs 6,000,” she said.
Khan went there on May 31 in PPE with another “technician” and collected swab samples. He promised to hand over the reports in 48 hours. “I grew inpatient and called the next day. After giving evasive replies all day, he said my mother’s reports were negative but he did not send them. Since my uncle’s report was from Thyrocare, I called up the lab and found that my mother’s samples never reached them. My uncle’s name was not in their database, but the barcode in my uncle’s report matched with another client,” said Lamberaj.
Senior inspector Firoz Bagwan said, “Shaikh knew all procedures. He took samples but did not submit them. He gave the complainant a fake report. We will arrest him soon.” Shaikh was booked for cheating and forgery, both non-bailable.
Thyrocare officials said they will look into the case.
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