Covid test: One held for duping people by posing as lab representative

Kolkata: A person has been arrested from Mukundapur area on Tuesday for allegedly cheating several people by conducting swab sample tests for detection of Covid infection by claiming himself as a representative of a renowned private hospital in the city.

According to sources, late on Monday night an official of a private hospital located in Mukundapur lodged a complaint at the Purba Jadavpur police station against a person identified as Soumitra Choudhury for allegedly cheating people by posing as a representative of the hospital.

Furthermore, it was also alleged that the accused person had been collecting swab samples from people and used to charge more than the rate

fixed by the state Health department.

During preliminary inquiry, the said hospital authority came to know that Choudhury had circulated a message in Whatsapp offering Covid tests. Sources informed that, used to charge around Rs 3,600 per test. After collecting the swab samples he used to submit them to the said hospital and collect the reports. Later he used to hand the reports over to people.

After getting some complaints about charging more than the government rate for Covid test, the said hospital authority inquired and interacted with several such people who were cheated by Choudhury.

After getting the complaint from the hospital authority, police initiated a case and started tracking Choudhury's mobile number which he used to communicate with the people. Around 3 am on Tuesday police tracked him down near Mukundapur. Immediately a team went to the location and nabbed Choudhury.

He is being interrogated to find out whether he has any associates.