Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday that there have been reports of a plasma donation racket. This comes at a time when the State is serving the world’s largest plasma therapy trial which was established in June, NDTV reported.

“Plasma therapy is proving beneficial for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. However, people have reported frauds related to this. Beware of such frauds,” the Minister said.

According to the NDTV report, people who are in dire need of plasma are being charged hefty sums by the fraudsters.

Plasma therapy for critical Covid-19 patients gained momentum after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal vouched for its positive results. He also established a plasma bank where people who have been cured of the virus can come and donate their plasma, according to media reports.

Emulating Kejriwal, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray launched the world’s largest plasma therapy trials called Project Platina.

However, due to the inadequate number of donors, critically ill patients are now exposed to fraud and extortion.

“Some potential donors reportedly contacted the relatives of the patients and offered the plasma for lakhs of rupees,” cyber expert and advocate Prashant Mali told NDTV .

The total number of positive cases in Maharashtra, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus, stands at 2,75,640, the State health department said.

Around 3,606 patients were discharged today, while the recovery rate in Maharashtra is currently 55.37 per cent.

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