NAGPUR: Akola police on Friday arrested vaccinator Deepak Sontakke, 25, for his alleged role in stealing seven vials of Covidshield vaccine from the cold room of the Chatari rural hospital in Akola. The offence was registered following a complaint lodged by medical superintendent of the hospital.
Police sources said Sontakke, originally a data entry operator posted at Patur, had been deputed at Chatari rural hospital as vaccinator of February 5 after the drive was launched for the health and frontline workers. He was in-charge of the vaccines at the rural hospital.
As per the initial findings in the inquiries conducted by the internal committee of the health officials’ team of the hospital, Sontakke is likely to have taken the vials with him on February 11.
SP G Sreedhar said an offence under Section 380 of IPC for theft was registered against Sontakke. “We would now conduct inquiries based upon our questioning of Sontakke and try to recover the stolen vials, if possible. The case has to be detected now,” said Sreedhar who is supervising the case.
Seven of 44 vials of the vaccines were found missing from the box on February 12 by the staff nurses who were supposed to administer the doses to the beneficiaries. The hospital authorities are learnt to have approached the Channi police station on February 16 with a complaint.
Police said the internal committee of the health officials conducting the inquiry once again approached the police on Friday with a fresh complaint of theft mentioning the name of Sontakke as the prime suspect. “The health committee had fixed the responsibility on Sontakke for the missing vials as his conduct was questionable,” said a source.
Asst police inspector Rahul Wagh of Channi police station, also the investigating officer in the case, said police would produce Sontakke before the court on Saturday for custody remand. “We need to interrogate Sontakke to ascertain the manner in which the offence took place and other details including recovery,” said the IO.
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