An 84-year-old Indian man who allegedly received 11 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccines over the past year by using multiple identification cards assigned to him has threatened to commit suicide if prosecuted for misleading the Indian Health Service, the Times of India reported on Wednesday.
Brahmdeo Mandal — who is a resident of Bihar, a state in eastern India — has allegedly received 11 to 12 doses of coronavirus vaccines on purpose over the past 12 months by deceiving health administrators in his local community of Puraini.
“Mandal used multiple ID cards to obtain Covid [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine shots on purpose and fraudulently,” the Times of India reported on January 12, citing a police report filed by a person in charge of a Puraini health clinic in recent days.
Bihar police have charged Mandal with specific crimes in connection with his alleged fraudulent activity, according to a report published by the Hindustan Times on January 9.
“An FIR has been lodged under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 188 (disobedience of order promulgated by government) by Dr Arun Kumar, medical officer of Puraini primary health centre,” according to the newspaper. “FIR” stands for “First Information Report” and is the initial report filed by police to launch a criminal investigation in India.
“The FIR aims at stopping the man [Mandal] from taking more covid [Chinese coronavirus] jabs and not to harass him,” Dr. Abdul Salam, the acting civil surgeon for Puraini, told reporters on January 9.
Mandal has “threatened to kill himself by suicide if he is prosecuted [for his alleged crimes],” the Times of India revealed on January 12.
Puraini healthcare workers became suspicious of Mandal after he visited a local clinic to receive a 12th dose of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine in recent days. The Hindustan Times described Mandal as having received 12 doses of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine over the past 12 months, while the Times of India reported the man as receiving 11 doses.
“After Mandal was caught by health workers taking the jab for twelfth time, an investigation revealed that he had managed to take the vaccine as many as 11 times due to his voter identity card and Aadhar card,” the Indian news site Pink Villa reported on January 9. An Aadhar card is an Indian government-issued identification card based on a person’s biometric and demographic data.
Pink Villa described Mandal as a retired Indian government employee who previously worked for his local postal service.
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