KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 2
Police have arrested four lab technicians of two hospitals from Kathmandu valley for issuing fake PCR reports to the general public.
Metropolitan Police Crime Division who undertook a covert operation to arrest the erring health officials said the arrested were employees of Bhaktapur-based Nagarik Community Teaching Hospital and Kathmandu-based Kantipur Hospital.
Of those arrested are Roshan Kumar Chittan, 25, of Bideha Municipality, Dhanusha, currently living in Gwarko, Nagendra Yadav, 25, of Chhireshwor Municipality, Dhanusha, currently living in Gaushala, Kathmandu, Madhav Mainali, 21, of Temal Rural Municipality, Kavre currently living in Suryabinayak, and Prashanna Kumar Jha, 24, of Balara Municipality, Sarlahi, currently living in Kaushaltar. Chittan is also lab manager of Civil Hospital in Min Bhawan. He also worked as a middleman with lab technicians of Kantipur Hospital. Jha is the lab manager of Nagarik Hospital.
According to SP Krishna Koirala, spokesperson of MPCD, besides Chittan, all the arrested employees had issued fake PCR report from their own hospitals.
SP Koirala also said two more accomplices in the crime were absconding and police were searching for them. The fugitives are Bhavesh Mishra, 40, of Suryabinayak Municipality of Bhaktapur district and Nirmal Giri, 40. Mishra works as a Lab Director in Nagarik Hospital while Giri is a lab director at Kantipur Hospital.
Police also confiscated their private computer, laptop, three CPUs, PCR registers, PCR reports, and kits used to generate PCR reports from the arrested persons.
Police also recovered five mobiles along with details of illegal activities.
SP Koirala said they would create and sell the fake PCR reports, mostly negative reports, for people going for foreign employment. Foreign employment aspirants are required to produce a negative COVID-19 report to fly abroad before boarding the aircraft. However, some people test positive for the virus.
In desperation, they normally pay hefty amount to the erring lab operators to get the false report.
Chittan, for instance, who had an identity card of Civil Hospital was carrying eight fake PCR reports issued by Kantipur Hospital when he was arrested from the premises of Tribhuvan International Airport yesterday at around 10:30am. He had reached there to provide the fake reports to those who were supposed to board a plane in a few hours and had actually tested positive for the virus.
Following his arrest, other people also fell into the police trap. Police arrested Yadav from the premises of Kantipur Hospital along with 17 fake PCR reports. Mainali was arrested along with four fake PCR reports. All the reports had shown negative results.
In fact, the erring lab technicians had not even conducted tests, but had prepared the reports on their own. Police said they were charging Rs 10,000 per report from their clients. Regular PCR test in government hospitals cost Rs 800, while some private hospitals charge up to Rs 2,000 for the same. But, upon recommendation of local leaders or those in contact tracing can undergo a free PCR test.
Fake PCR tests have become a burgeoning problem in the country in recent times as many passengers are being returned from the airport over the fake PCR reports.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 3, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
