Delhi doc, accomplice held for forging Covid test reports

New Delhi: A doctor and his accomplice have been arrested in Delhi on the charge of forging Covid-19 test reports, police said on Friday.

According to the police, Dr Kush B Parashar used to recommend patients for Covid-19 tests, collect samples personally or through his assistant. With the help of co-accused Amit Singh, Dr Parasher used to forge Covid-19 test reports of a renowned diagnostic centre or other labs as per the demand.

As the reports were prepared in PDF format on a computer and sent to patients on WhatsApp, it was difficult to detect the forgery.

The matter came to light when a person running the business of providing nursing staff to patients asked Dr Parashar for Covid tests on two nursing staff before hiring them. Parashar forged the reports and sent them, which were further forwarded to the client in a PDF format on her mobile, police said.

However, seeing a mistake in the mentioned name, the person concerned contacted the diagnostic centre and asked for a new report with correction.

On the basis of provided details, the diagnostic centre found that no such patient existed in their records. The centre then lodged a complaint at the Hauz Khas police station in south Delhi, where a case was registered.

"During investigation, the forgery was unearthed and Dr Parashar along with Amit Singh were found involved. They were preparing forged Covid test reports without even testing the samples. A racket in forged reports was thus being run. They were using the names of renowned diagnostic labs for the purpose," said Atul Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police, south Delhi.

The 34-year-old doctor, a resident of Malviya Nagar, and Amit admitted to the crime during questioning. Their accomplice Pramod is absconding, the police officer said.

"Dr Parashar admitted to forgery of more than 75 Covid test reports. Efforts are on to trace others involved in the nexus," the officer said.

According to police, the doctor charged Rs 2,400 per test for negative or positive reports as per the demand by clients. Moreover, the samples drawn were destroyed.