BJP leader's fear of data theft exposed fake testing racket

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Faridkot unit leader's fear of personal data theft after receiving a Covid-19 negative report without giving a swab sample took the lid off a racket involving fake Covid reports generated during the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand.

Vipin Mittal, a former vice president of Faridkot (Punjab) unit of BJP, had contested the Faridkot municipal council election unsuccessfully this year. On April 22, he had received a text message on his mobile phone with a link to his Covid-19 test report, stating that he had tested negative. 'I was surprised to see the Covid report because I never gave my swab sample for testing. I



was worried that someone might have stolen my personal data and misused it,' Mittal said.

He said he informed the district health department regarding this, but no one inquired about it. However, Faridkot civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Kapoor said that he didn't receive any written complaint in this regard.

'I downloaded a copy of that report from the portal and complained to the Indian Council of Medical Research... I got a reply from them that they would investigate it, but I didn't hear from them further. So, I filed an RTI..,' Mittal said. In the reply to his RTI, Mittal received a copy of the Uttarakhand health department's probe and an action-taken report that said he had received a 'fake' report. 'I am shocked to see this,' he said.