Covid: Mr Patel has written to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan regarding the racket (File)
The MLA brother of a Union minister has claimed he was given fake Remdesivir injections in a hospital in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and demanded a high-level probe into what he said was a racket in the district.
In a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Narsinghpur BJP MLA Jalam Singh Patel, who is the younger brother of Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, said a fake Remdesivir business was thriving in Jabalpur amid the COVID-19 outbreak and he was a victim when he contracted the infection during the Damoh Assembly bypoll campaign last month.
"I am a sufferer, an eyewitness and a victim of fake Remdesivir," Mr Patel said in the letter, pointing out that his lung infection worsened despite taking a total of 12 "phony" Remdesivir injections in a hospital on April 17 and then later when he was readmitted.
He said people of 15 districts come to Jabalpur to get good medical treatment and some unscrupulous people had played with the lives of people by supplying fake Remdesivir injections to facilities here.
He claimed a relative had died of coronavirus, adding that the fake Remdesivir issue had created distrust among people.
"I will fight this issue to the finish, I will go to court and raise the matter in MP Assembly to ensure victims (of this racket) are compensated. A central team should carry out a probe and the culprits should be severely punished," Mr Patel said.
The MLA said he had written to the Jabalpur Inspector General of Police and Divisional Commissioner in this connection earlier.
Queried about whether the chief minister had replied as yet, Mr Patel said he had written the letter just two days ago.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)