False COVID-19 reports came from five Mumbai labs

The owner of Sanket Travels is also allegedly involved in the scam

The Ghatkopar police, who arrested six accused in the fake RT-PCR report scam, have found that they had collected these reports from five city labs. All these reports are fake because there is no QR code on them. The police did not reveal the names of the five private labs as they said they are verifying whether the fake reports are from there.

Bus driver Manik (left) and travel agent Sanket of Sanket Travels whom mid-day reporters spoke to during their sting

mid-day had reported on Thursday that the police were cracking down on travel agents selling fake COVID-19 negative reports to commuters trying to leave the state, prompted by a series of its reports.

mid-day had also reported that many travel agents were asking for Rs 300 to Rs 500 to give false reports of RT-PCR tests. After this the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) investigated the matter and found that the negative report of RT-PCR given to passengers were fake. According to the police, every RT-PCR report has a QR code which when scanned gives its details, but these reports did not have the QR code.

Rohit Jaiswal of Falcon Bus Line was another person who charged more when the reporters said they did not have a RT-PCR report

According to the police, besides the people who have been arrested, many others are involved in the scam. They are also looking for the mastermind behind the scam. They are also trying to find how many people have given the fake RT-PCR reports and how these reports were generated, and from where the prints were taken, etc.

Inspector Madan Patil of Ghatkopar police station told mid-day, "The Ghatkopar police have arrested six accused in the fake RT-PCR report case, all of them are in police custody till Monday. We are investigating further."