Hyderabad nurse robs elderly couple after fake Covid vaccine

A nurse, who sedated an elderly couple in Hyderabad with a fake Covid vaccine and stole 80 grams of gold jewelry from them, has been arrested, police said on Monday.

The incident happened on Saturday in Lalitha Nagar under the limits of the Meerpet Police Station of the Rachakonda Police Station.

Defendant Anusha was arrested on Sunday, hours after the couple filed a complaint with police.

K. Laxman (80), a retired government worker, and his wife Kasturi (70) complained to police on Saturday evening that the nurse had duped them in the name of the Covid vaccine.

Anusha, who is taking an auxiliary nurse-midwife (ANM) course at a private college and who was previously a tenant near Laxman’s house, contacted the couple with an offer to arrange doses of the Covid vaccine for them. When they agreed to take it, she came to their house at 3 p.m. on Saturday and gave Laxman and Kasturi a dose each.

“Before giving the shot, she told us we would be sleepy for a while. We don’t know what happened after that, but when we woke up late in the evening we found that we had been robbed, ”Kasturi said.

Kasturi realized that his mangalsutra, gold ring, earrings, and toes, all weighing around eight tolas, were missing.

The couple immediately approached the Meerpet police station and filed a complaint. Police resumed the investigation and resolved the case with the arrest of Anusha.

Police investigations revealed that Anusha and her husband knew the victims because they lived on rent in their neighborhood. The young couple then moved to another area.

The accused and her husband were reportedly facing financial problems and decided to target the elderly couple as they were living alone.

Police have advised people not to believe those who promise to organize the Covid vaccine because the vaccine is not available in the open market and only health authorities are allowed to administer the vaccine. At this point, the vaccine is being given only to healthcare workers and frontline workers in various departments fighting the pandemic.

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