Police probe credential, connections of fake IAS officer Debanjan Deb

Kolkata Police has busted a fake COVID-19 vaccination racket which was being run by a bogus IAS officer, posing as the joint commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). The detectives of Kolkata Police probing the case believe that the vaccines available in the camp were powder mixed water.

Kolkata:A day after a fake COVID-19 vaccination racket run by a fake IAS officer was busted, the detectives of Kolkata Police are in fix over the connection and style of functioning of Debanjan Deb, the accused arrested in this case. In the latest development, the forensic team of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), on Thursday, has claimed that after testing the ingredients of the vaccine vials seized from the fake vaccination centre, they are sure that those were neither Covishield nor Covaxin and believe that it was powder mixed water.

After the primary investigation, detectives feel that Debanjan is an educated person with a criminal bent of mind. However, the probe officials are still in a fix on why he used to run a fake vaccination centre. “There is not a single complaint that Debanjan demanded money from anybody against this vaccination. So the question is what was the actual motive behind the crime,” a probe official said on strict condition of anonymity. After the seizure of Debanjan’s education certificates, the probe officials came to know that he did his post-graduation in genetics and secured good marks.

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“His father is a retired deputy collector of the state excise department. Debanjan told us that his father used to put pressure on him to be an IAS officer. He tried once but was unsuccessful. He went missing for some time and returned home claiming that he has become a bureaucrat. His residence at Hossainpur in the southern fringes of Kolkata had a nameplate that read— Debanjan Deb – IAS.

Detectives are puzzled by Debanjan’s highly organized mode of operation and his Twitter handle which had top Trinamool Congress leaders and even some top police officials in the ranks of inspector general of police as followers. “In his office, opposite Kasba New Market, he had employed around 16 people and their monthly salary ranged between Rs 23,000 and Rs 25,000. He had a high-end SUV with a blue flashlight attached. He had a personal armed bodyguard, who is a retired BSF person. Now the question arises that wherefrom he used to get such a huge sum of money to run his operations. This hints towards the involvement of a larger racket behind the entire conspiracy,” a probe official said.

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Secondly, being a fake IAS officer, he was able to make his Twitter handle popular. “We have prepared a list of all the followers of his Twitter handle. His Twitter account displayed pictures of top Trinamool Congress leaders starting Firhad Hakim to Subrata Mukherjee. So the question arises on the source of audacity to use so many influential names in his Twitter handle,” he said. He further stated that the probe officials have also got access to call records of several mobile conversations of Debanjan with some influential persons, including government officials. However, the probe officials refused to divulge their names.

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