Amikacin may have been used at fake Covid-19 vaccination camp in Kolkata | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Amikacin may have been used at fake Covid-19 vaccination camp in Kolkata

Jun 25, 2021 01:30 AM IST

The BJP has raised allegations that Deb could be having links with senior leaders of the Trinamool Congress after pictures of Deb posing with senior TMC leaders surfaced.

People who went to take their Covid-19 vaccine at the fake vaccination camp organised by the man who was impersonating an IAS officer, may have been injected with Amikacin, an antibiotic.

Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty was also duped as she attended the vaccination camp on an invitation and took a dose. She however, grew suspicious when she didn’t receive any message on her mobile. (PTI FILE PHOTO.)
Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty was also duped as she attended the vaccination camp on an invitation and took a dose. She however, grew suspicious when she didn’t receive any message on her mobile. (PTI FILE PHOTO.)

Sleuths of the Kolkata Police’s detective department, who raided Debanjan Deb’s office in south Kolkata on Thursday, found a large number of Amikacin vials. Fake labels of Covishield have also been recovered.

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“In some of the Amikacin vials we found fake labels of Covishield had been pasted. Interrogation revealed that Debanjan Deb used to purchase Amikacin from chemists impersonating as a top official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation,” said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.

On Wednesday, Kolkata Police busted a fake Covid-19 vaccination camp organized by 28-year-old Deb, who was masquerading as the joint commissioner of the city’s civic body.

Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty was also duped as she attended the vaccination camp on an invitation and took a dose. She however, grew suspicious when she didn’t receive any message on her mobile.

Police have lodged another case against Deb on Thursday after interrogation revealed that he had organised a similar camp at a college in north Kolkata a few days ago. Several students were injected.

“The vials used by Deb had a label with Covishield written on it in green colour. It didn’t have any batch number, any manufacturing date, expiry date or the company’s name. It was only written ‘recombinant vaccine’. The vials were also smaller than actual Covishield vaccine vials,” said Ranita Sengupta, deputy chief medical health officer at KMC.

Police suspect that as Deb was impersonating an IAS officer and a top civic official he was also arranging funds by negotiating with some microfinance companies.

“He had employed security personnel and used to move around in a car with a blue beacon and the flag of KMC,” said the police officer.

Further investigation is going on and the samples, recovered from his office and the fake vaccination camp, have been sent for examination.

“Amikacin is a very important antibiotic which is given to patients suffering from sepsis and septicaemia. We still don’t know which injection was given. But if it was Amikacin then it won’t have much effect on a normal human being. But if the patient is suffering from kidney ailments and Amikacin has been given in high doses, then it could create problems,” said Dr Manas Gumta, general secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors in the state.

The BJP has raised allegations that Deb could be having links with senior leaders of the Trinamool Congress after pictures of Deb posing with senior TMC leaders surfaced.

Recently, Deb attended a program organised by the TMC at Sonarpur in the southern fringes of the city. TMC legislator Lovey Maitra also attended the program on an invitation. Recently a bust of Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled at Taltala in Kolkata. Along with names of TMC MPs and MLAs, Deb’s name was also carved on the stone.

“How can a MP (referring to TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty) attend a fake vaccination camp, without verifying it and speak highly of the camp? Does this mean that she is also associated with this? Deb’s picture can also be seen with TMC’s leaders including ministers and ward councillors. There has to be some connection,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP president in West Bengal.

“The way everything was camouflaged we admit that there was a fault. A crime has been committed. The police will investigate how he managed everything. Mimi Chakraborty didn’t speak highly of Deb. She tried to encourage vaccination. But we don’t want to hear it from the BJP. Could they identify the fake BJP leaders who joined the party in large numbers before the elections and are now willing to switch sides?” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson

A few hundred people took injections in various camps organised by Deb. Police said that citizens who took the fake jab in south Kolkata were told that they were getting Covishield, those who got the fake jabs in the north Kolkata College were told they had got Sputnik. His office employees were also given fake injections and were told they were getting Pfizer vaccine. Such a camp was also organised at Sonarpur too.

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