Seven held for selling 2k fake antiviral meds
2 OF THE SUSPECTS WERE ALLEGEDLY PASSING OFF INJECTIONS OF
THE ANTIBIOTIC AZITHROMYCIN AS THE ANTIVIRAL DRUG REMDESIVIR
Karn Pratap Singh and Kalyan Das
A Bpharm graduate and a Bcom graduate, both from Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, were among seven arrested on Friday for running a factory producing fake remdesivir injections, which were widely sold in Delhi and other states for huge profits, Delhi Police’s crime branch said.
Vatan Kumar Saini,32, who holds Bpharm and MBA degrees, and Aditya Gautam, 33, a Bcom graduate, told the police that they have sold more than 2,000 fake remdesivir vials in the black market through their agents in the past few weeks. The police said a 40-year-old woman, who herself recently recovered from Covid-19, was helping them sell the fake vials in the city.
Remdesivir injections are in huge demand across India, as Covid-19 infections surge. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said there is no evidence it reduces mortality or obviates the need for ventilation in hospitalised people, but it has been found by some studies to help those in early stages of the infection who need supplemental oxygen.
Delhi Police’s ongoing investigation into those arrested recently for trying to sell remdesivir injections in the black market helped them trace the vials to the manufacturing unit in Uttarakhand, the crime branch said.
The police said on Thursday they carried out searches in the manufacturing facility in Uttarakhand’s Kotdwar and a trading company in Haridwar, both run by Gautam and Saini. The two were allegedly passing off injections of antibiotic azithromycin as the antiviral drug remdesivir, as the packaging of both drugs are similar. The men would replace the labels on the antibiotic vials with fake ones, said DCP (crime) Monika Bhardwaj.
DCP Bhardwaj said 198 vials of the fake remdesivir, one packing machine, one barcoding machine, 3,000 empty vials and packing materials of azithromycin were seized from the factory.
NEW DELHI:
Senior superintendent of police, Pauri Garhwal, P Renuka Devi, said “A Delhi Police team came to Kotdwar on Wednesday to enquire about a pharmaceutical company named Nectar Herbs and Drugs in the town... They returned again to conduct a raid over allegations of making fake remdesivir injections. There was no official communication to us from them.”
The duo was allegedly selling one vial for around ₹6,000 to ₹10,000 to their agents, who sold for between ₹25,000 and ₹40,000. The injection retails for between ₹899 and ₹3,500.
DCP Bhardwaj said police have initiated the procedure to seal Gautam’s medicine manufacturing company, “Nectar Herbs and Drugs” in Kotdwar.
A crime branch team on April 23 arrested Mohammad Shoaib (28) and Mohan Kumar Jha (40), with 10 remdesivir vials that they were trying to sell to a decoy customer outside Batra Hospital in south Delhi.
The two told police they got the vials from two others, Manish Goyal and Pushkar Chanderkant Pakhale, who were arrested on April 25 from Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar with 12 vials of remdesivir.
The duo disclosed that their main supplier was one Sadhna Sharma and she was arrested the next day from Yamuna Vihar. A total of 160 vials of fake remdesivir injections were recovered from her, the DCP said.
“Sharma was treated for Covid-19 at a hospital in Krishna Nagar. She needed remdesivir for her treatment but could not get a vial. In her efforts to obtain an injection for herself, she came in contact with Saini and joined his illegal trade,” said Bhardwaj.