Uh-oh! Looks like Mumbai’s fake vaccination scam has now started to affect Bollywood’s production houses too.
Now, TIPS’s head honcho, Ramesh Taurani has supposedly been taken for a ride by the vaccine scammers.
Recently, the producer allegedly claimed that he got 365 of his employees vaccinated on May 30 and June 3, but they haven’t received their vaccination certificates yet.
Releasing a statement on Instagram, Ramesh says, “We @tips @tipsfilmsofficial did two vaccination drives on 29th May and 3rd June respectively. 356 people including myself, our staff, film crew, and workers were vaccinated in this drive. We were informed that our certificates would take a few days to reflect. When my office people contacted Mr. Rajesh Pandey he said it will come in by this Saturday.”
“Now we know he’s been absconding. We paid 1200/- per dose plus GST. And more than the monetary loss, we are now worried about what was given to us. Have we been vaccinated with Covishield or simply given a water shot?! We are urgently awaiting answers on this matter. Mumbai police is investigating the case and we are hopeful for clarity soon.. #fakevaccation,” he further added.
Talking about the same, Taurani told India Today, “We got 356 people vaccinated and paid Rs 1,200 per dose plus GST. But more than the money, now we are worried about what was given to us. Is it genuine Covishield or any saline water? We were told we would get the vaccination certificate from Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (in Mumbai).”
Not just ‘TIPS’ but several production houses in Mumbai have also faced a similar situation. As per India Today, approximately 150 employees and family members of ‘Matchbox Pictures’, which has bankrolled Sriram Raghavan’s ‘Andhadhun’, too, had participated in the vaccination drive arranged by Tips Industries Ltd and received their certificates quite late.