Haridwar: The SSP has reconstituted the SIT constituted by the police in connection with the 2021 Kumbh Mela COVID-19 fraud case. The transfer of investigator Rajesh Shah to CBCID is one of the reasons behind the restructuring of this SIT. The expedition of the investigation is another reason behind it. However, the inquiry committee headed by CDO Saurabh Gaharwar has completed its investigation on the scam done by the district administration and has submitted the inquiry report to the district collector, Vinay Shankar Pandey who would be sealing and sending it to the government.
Reconstitution is done to complete the investigation
The investigation conducted by the SIT is still in progress. The SSP has reconstituted the SIT and also increased the number of members in the SIT team. The SIT team is headed by City CO Abhay Singh. Inspector Yogesh Dev, Sub Inspector Yashwant Khatri, and Sub Inspector Mansa Dhyani have also been included in the team. However, the members who were already a part of the SIT team would continue to work.
A massive scam that involved providing fake COVID-19 RT-PCR results during the Kumbh Mela of 2021, was recently exposed. A case has been registered by CMO Dr S K Jha against Max Corporation, Nalwa Labs, and Dr. Lal Chandani, all belonging to Nagar Kotwali Haridwar. A police case under Sections 269, 270, 420, 468, 471, 120B, 188 Bhadvi, Section 5 Disaster Management Act, 2005, and Section 3 Epidemic Act, 1897 has been registered in Nagar Kotwali. Section 467 of the IPC was also added later. So far, one of the accused Ashish Bashishtha has been arrested by the SIT.
Increase in a number of members:
Haridwar SSP Santhil Abudai Krishnaraj S says that the SIT has just been reconstituted. Since the present investigators have been transferred, Amarjeet from the Kotwal Nagar Kotwali has been newly appointed as the new investigator and the SIT would now be headed by CO City. In addition, Inspector Yogesh Dev has been recently included in the SIT and Sub Inspector Yashwant Khatri, who is in charge of the post, has been given additional charge. Mansa Dhyani, a lady inspector has also been included in the SIT. Members who were previously a part of the SIT continue to be a part of it, but the team has been increased to speed up the investigation.
One of the chief reasons behind the reconstitution was speeding up the investigation. This is a discussion and it has to be done keeping in view all legal points. The investigation is currently running behind schedule as the evidence on which the case would be based is still being unearthed.