A day after he allegedly admitted to stealing a quantity of COVID-19 vaccination books, a driver attached to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) was yesterday remanded to prison after he was faced with two charges.
Avinash Rameshwar, 27, of Lot 50 Goed Intent, West Bank Demerara (WBD), appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
He was charged with simple larceny and forgery of official documents. Rameshwar was not required to plead to the charges.
The proceedings were then adjourned until September 20.
Rameshwar was one of three men arrested by the police on Tuesday in relation to the discovery of a quantity of medical equipment and documents. The two other suspects were released without being charged.
Police had said on Thursday that Rameshwar confessed to being the driver of one of the hospital’s minibuses, PWW 3747, which would sometimes be tasked with uplifting and transporting COVID-19 vaccination booklets from the Ministry of Health, Georgetown.
The police added that Rameshwar reportedly also admitted to “taking out” twelve of the COVID-19 vaccination booklets during one of the trips.
The trio had been taken into custody on Tuesday morning after the police discovered a stethoscope, 17 stamped sick leave forms, four COVID-19 vaccination books, a blood sugar testing kit and a blood pressure testing kit in their possession. During further investigations, an additional seven COVID-19 vaccination booklets were found in the minibus between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat.
According to a police statement, ranks, acting on further information, escorted the suspects to the WDRH, where the Medical Superintendent of the hospital was contacted.
“A request was made to conduct searches on minibus, PWW 3747, which is normally driven by one of the suspects. In the process the police found seven blue blank COVID-19 books in a compartment between the driver’s and passenger’s seats,” the police said.
When brought to the attention of the suspects, police said they “bowed their heads” and remained silent.
The police further noted that during the investigation a nurse was also questioned but denied that the signature on one of the COVID-19 vaccination booklets, which was found in one of the suspect’s possession, was hers.
The police in a previous statement had said that a nurse raised an alarm after two of the suspects approached her to stamp the COVID-19 vaccination books at the Vreed-en-Hoop Health Centre.
The police said one of the suspects initially approached the nurse on Tuesday morning and requested that she stamp the COVID-19 vaccination book. He was followed by an accomplice.
The suspects, the police added, related to the nurse that the third suspect was outside to transport them to the Diamond Hospital.
The report further explained that the nurse checked the vaccination booklets and observed that they were all blank and the suspects were not supposed to have them in their possession.
As a result, she immediately alerted her supervisor, who lodged a report with the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station.
According to the police, the suspects were subsequently arrested and escorted to the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station.
A search carried out on one of the suspects’ cars unearthed one stethoscope, seventeen blank sick leave forms and a COVID-19 vaccination book, the police said.
The sick leave forms were stamped with the WDRH stamp while one of the COVID-19 vaccination booklets was not stamped but bore a name and address.
Ranks then went to the home of the suspect and a further search revealed a blood pressure testing machine and one sugar testing machine in his bedroom.
He was questioned about the items, which he claimed he bought in Georgetown. However, he could not provide receipts for the purchases. As a result, the items were seized.
Further searches were conducted at the homes of the other two suspects but nothing of evidential value was found, the police had said.
