Episode 4: The COVID Camp That Never Was

(Based on true events in Kolkata, 2021)

– When the Seal of Science Was Forged

In June 2021, as India reeled from the brutal second wave of COVID-19, a peculiar vaccination camp was set up in Kolkata’s Kasba locality.

The banners bore the logo of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The staff wore white coats and masks. People lined up in queues, relieved to receive a dose — free, convenient, and just down the street. The organizer, a man named Debanjan Deb, claimed to be an IAS officer “in coordination with WHO and state health authorities.” He had a badge. He had a seal. He had the tone of a man who belonged.

Only… he didn’t.

He was not an IAS officer.He was not a doctor.And the vaccine was… not a vaccine.

🧠 The Anatomy of the Scam

Deb had no medical license. No government ties. But he had costumes, forms, banners, and the most powerful tool of all — timing. In a city desperate for oxygen, beds, and vaccines, he offered a solution wrapped in official-sounding language.

Over 150 people across multiple camps were injected with saline water.

Among them were vulnerable senior citizens, schoolteachers, even a TMC MP, who was the one who ultimately exposed the fraud when she received no confirmation from the health portal.

The public reaction was a cocktail of outrage and disbelief.

How could so many fall for something so fake?

The answer lies not in medical ignorance — but in psychological trust.

🎭 The Institutional Bias Trap

Debanjan knew he didn’t need a gun or a threat.All he needed was a white coat, a confident voice, and a civic banner.

That’s institutional trust bias in action — where people believe systems don’t lie. And if something carries the look of a system (logos, forms, structured language), our brains are less likely to question.

People didn’t believe Debanjan.They believed what he was wearing.What he was holding.And most dangerously — what he was echoing.

🧩 Framework Breakdown:

• Type of Truth Bias: Institutional Mimicry Bias

• Trigger: Medical authority + government visuals + COVID desperation

• Cultural Factor: Deep-rooted faith in official-looking events; vaccine panic + logistical fatigue

🧬 The Aftershock

What followed was an arrest, media frenzy, and a health department scramble to determine who got injected with what. Debanjan was charged under multiple IPC sections — but the emotional injury was harder to quantify.

• Trust in vaccination was shaken

• Community health workers faced skepticism

• Vulnerable citizens began asking: “Is this camp real?”

  
  

Debanjan’s scam didn’t just poison the arm. It injected doubt into a system already gasping for breath.

🔁 Truth Bias in a Pandemic

Truth bias thrives in comfort. But it explodes in crisis.

When people are scared, tired, and seeking safety, the brain welcomes anything that looks like a solution. And the sharper the logo, the neater the badge, the calmer the voice — the faster belief kicks in.

That’s how a fake doctor set up fake camps, with fake doses, and a real impact.

🧠 The Placebo Effect – When Belief Becomes Medicine

What made this scam even more complex was that many recipients initially reported feeling “relieved”, even “better” after the fake jab. This wasn’t because the saline water worked — it was the placebo effect at play. When the brain believes it has received a real treatment, it can trigger actual biochemical responses — lowering anxiety, calming symptoms, even producing short-term physiological changes.

Debanjan Deb didn’t inject a vaccine. He injected belief — and that belief carried temporary comfort. That’s what makes this episode more than just medical fraud — it’s an example of how truth bias and placebo psychology can combine, especially in high-stress, low-clarity situations like a pandemic.

🎯 How This Links to Truth Bias:

• Truth Bias: “It looks official, so it must be real.”

• Placebo Effect: “If I believe this will help, my body may respond as if it did.”

  
  

In tandem, these create a dangerous cocktail — credibility + relief, even when the core is hollow.

🩺 Closing Note – When Trust Becomes the Virus

In a pandemic, trust is oxygen. But when that trust is faked — when a man in a white coat turns out to be a con — the damage isn’t just physical, it’s psychological. Debanjan Deb didn’t just exploit a crisis; he weaponised our belief in systems, in symbols, in safety itself. And for a brief moment, even saline felt like a cure — because our minds wanted it to be. That’s the haunting power of truth bias fused with the placebo effect: we believe, and in believing, we sometimes heal — but only until the truth catches up. The question is no longer just “Was it real?” It’s: “Why didn’t I doubt it?”

🗞️ Sources Cited in This Episode

• The Hindu (June 25, 2021) – Debanjan Deb remanded in police custody

• NDTV (June 23, 2021) – TMC MP took fake vaccine from impersonator

• India Today (June 24, 2021) – Profile of Debanjan Deb, mastermind behind the scam

• Times of India (June 26, 2021) – How he faked his way into politics and public health

Next Episode: The WhatsApp Prophet

What happens when the deception doesn’t wear a uniform — but arrives through the phone, from a “trusted forward,” claiming to cure, warn, or predict? In Episode 5, we explore the viral nature of trust, misinformation, and the digital form of truth bias.