Mumbai: Cyber cafe operator booked for issuing fake Covid-19 negative certificates

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An offence has been registered against the operator of a cyber cafe in Mumbai for allegedly issuing fake Covid-19 certificates to people, an official said on Thursday.

According to the norms, travellers need to undergo an RT-PCR test and carry a Covid-19 negative certificate for air travel and train journeys in a few states.

Based on a tip-off, the crime branch's unit-1 sent a dummy customer to the cyber cafe in Bhendi Bazaar locality of south Mumbai on Wednesday evening, the official said.

On the customer's request, the cyber cafe operator issued a fake Covid-19 negative certificate in the name of a pathology lab and charged him Rs 700 for it, he said.

The establishment was subsequently raided and the police seized some certificates, letterheads of a pathology lab, the computer and other equipment from the cafe, the official said.

An FIR under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and other relevant provisions of the IPC has been against the operator, who has not been arrested as yet, he added.

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