Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 13: A South African national had escaped from a prestigious hotel here where he was kept under quarantine and reached his home country via Dubai recently. He had been infected with omicron variant but he succeeded to travel by using fake coronavirus negative certificate. In this respect, the high grounds police have arrested four persons including staff of a private laboratory here.

Raveendra, employed in Bengaluru branch office of a software company owned by the said infected person from South Africa, another employee of the same company, and two staff of a private lab which issued corona negative certificate, have been taken into custody by the police.

The said South African who had come here on work was tested and he was found positive for omicron through genome sequencing. He was kept in Shangrila hotel here for 14 days in quarantine. But by using the services of his company staff, he had procured fake negative test report and fled to his country via Dubai by using it. The policemen began investigation after the issue was taken seriously by the state government and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike filed a complaint, based on the coronavirus negative certificate furnished by the concerned at the airport. The staff of the company had contacted Singeni Lab near Electronics City and procured a fake certificate by offering money, by providing a throat swab of someone else. The negative report was prepared on November 26. The South African had left the hotel the very next day of getting the certificate and travelled back.