Man booked for selling false COVID-19 negative reports in Gujarat

Parag Joshi ran a home sample collection centre and sold COVID-19 negative reports to people without collecting their swab samples, he said.

Rajkot: FIR has been registered against laboratory agent for allegedly selling false COVID-19 negative reports to people in Gujarat's Rajkot city, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the accused Parag Joshi managed to procure COVID-19 negative certificates for people who needed them for Rs 1,500 each.

Based on a complaint lodged by deputy medical officer Dr Parag Chunara, a case has been registered against Joshi and other unidentified accused under relevant provisions of the IPC, Disaster Management Act and Gujarat MedicalPractitioners' Act at Gandhigram police station, an official said.

Joshi ran a home sample collection centre and sold COVID-19 negative reports to people without collecting their swab samples, he said.

"We have learnt that the sample of a different person was sent to a laboratory with the documents of the person in whose name the report was to be issued," the official said.

The laboratory would then issue a report in the name of the person whose documents it received, he said.

The accused also did not have a licence to run the sample collection centre, and was hence also booked under the Gujarat Medical Practitioners' Act, the official said, adding that further probe is underway.

PTI Report