A Special Investigation Team is probing the fake vaccine drive case now (Representational)
A doctor, wanted in connection with a "bogus" vaccination drive in suburban Mumbai's Kandivali, surrendered before the police today, a day after a sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail application, an official said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Thakur said Dr Manish Tripathi was arrested after his role was established in the crime but refused to elaborate on the same.
Manish Tripathi is one of the six accused whose names had cropped up in the "bogus" vaccination drive conducted at a housing society in Kandivali last month. The police have already arrested six people in connection with the case.
The official said Dr Tripathi reached the Kandivali police station today afternoon and surrendered.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the case now, he said.
In his pre-arrest bail application filed before the sessions court on June 22, Dr Tripathi had stated the main accused in the case is a private hospital but the Mumbai Police is trying to protect its owners who are "powerful and politically well-connected".
In a complaint submitted to the police, Hiranandani Heritage Residents Welfare Association (HHRWA) claimed that its members were cheated during a vaccination camp organised on its campus by some persons who claimed to represent a private hospital.
The residents had claimed that they couldn't find their details on the CoWin app and were issued certificates in the name of three different hospitals. They had also expressed fear that the vaccine administered to them could be spurious.
The FIR was filed at the Kandivali police station on June 17 against the accused for conducting an unauthorised vaccination drive for 390 people on May 30.
Subsequently, similar FIRs were registered in Mumbai's Versova, Khar, Borivali, Bhoiwada, and other suburbs. The police suspect some of the accused were common in these incidents.