BackUttarakhand: Officials directed to submit evidence of fake Covid tests at Mahakumbh
The Maha Kumbh Mela was held from 1 to 30 April this year and was spread over Haridwar district and Rishikesh region, which includes Rishikesh in Dehradun district, Muni ki Reti in Tehri and Swargashram in Pauri
PremiumUttarakhand additional mela officer has directed 22 medical officials to present evidence in connection with a Covid testing scam during the Haridwar Mahakumbh, reported news agency ANI.
"In this year's Haridwar Mahakumbh 2021, fake testing of Covid-19 has surfaced. I have directed 22 medical officers to be available in Haridwar and present evidence in connection with this case," said mela officer Dr Sanjay Jain.
"I have sent a letter to the chief medical officers of 11 districts of the state namely Dehradun, Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Rudraprayag, Udham Singh Nagar, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Almora," he added.
The officer informed that the initial probe has revealed huge financial losses faced by the state due to the fake sample collection and results.
The private agency accused of irregularities in Covid-19 tests during the recently concluded Kumbh Mela continued to upload data on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) portal, even after its agreement with the Mela administration concluded, Uttarakhand police DGP Ashok Kumar had said on 21 June.
According to the Uttarakhand police, the period of the contract for corona investigations signed between the Kumbh Mela health officer's office and the private agency Max Corporate as well as the two private laboratories Dr Lalchandani Lab and Nalwa Laboratories was valid only till the month of April.
The Maha Kumbh Mela was held from 1 to 30 April this year and was spread over Haridwar district and Rishikesh region, which includes Rishikesh in Dehradun district, Muni ki Reti in Tehri and Swargashram in Pauri.
The discrepancy in the testing data was revealed after a preliminary probe by the state’s chief controlling officer (CCO) of Covid-19 Dr Abhishek Tripathi.
The COO investigated the matter when the ICMR received a complaint from a person who had attended the Mahakumbh.
"The complainant had claimed before the ICMR that when he went to attend the Mahakumbh, he had received an SMS that his samples have been collected for the test along with a proper valid id number. However, he gave no samples," an official said.
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