As many as seven individuals have been arrested and 133 vials of duplicate remdesivir injections, a vital drugs wanted for Covid-19 remedy, have been seized by the Ahmedabad Police’s Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) in a serious bust of a racket concerned in sale of pretend remdesivir injections in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
According to police, the accused have been allegedly concerned in promoting of antibiotics as remdesivir vials by printing pretend stickers of Hetero and Jubliant Companies, two pharmaceutical giants in India that produce the essential drug. The accused have been charging Rs 12,000 for every dose, stated the police. Police have additionally seized Rs 21.04 lakh in money which the accused procured after promoting these pretend medicine.
The accused have been recognized as Jay alias Sunny Thakur (21), resident of Sabarmati, Sunpreet alias Sunny Singh (21), resident of New Ranip, Raj Vohra (23), a resident of Paldi, Nitesh Joshi (31), a resident of Naroda, Shakti Singh Rawat (32), a resident of Kochrab, Paril Patel from Paldi and Dishant Malviya from Vadodara.
“We had received a tip that on Wednesday afternoon, an accused named Sunpreet will be arriving at a shop near Zundal circle in Ahmedabad with 20 vials of remdesivir which he will hand over to another accused Jay Thakur. A trap was set and both the accused were held. Sunpreet told us that he procured the drug from one Raj Vohra from Paldi and a raid was conducted at his residence in Paldi. We found there 10 more vials from his place and he told us that he procured them from one Nitesh Joshi who is currently staying at Hyatt Hotel in Vastrapur. Then a team conducted a raid at Hyatt Hotel and found 103 vials of remdesivir injections and cash Rs 21.04 lakh,” stated a senior official of Ahmedabad DCB.
Nitesh Joshi and Shakti Singh Rawat have been arrested from the lodge room, stated the police.
However upon checking the vials, police discovered that they didn’t include remdesivir drug however Piperacillin and Tazobactam antibiotics in them.
“Upon investigation,we found that the entire syndicate is being run by one Vivek Maheshwari from Vadodara who is the owner of Maheshwari Pharmaceutical and Surgical company. Maheshwari and his friend Dishant Malviya had purchased 100 injection doses of Piperacillin and Tazobactam from a pharma company in Changodar in Ahmedabad and the bill was made on Maheshwari Pharma company. Then another accomplice Paril Patel was given the task of printing stickers of Hetero and Jubliant companies and prepare fake small boxes of remdesivir,” stated the official.
Police stated that Vivek Maheshwari is absconding.
The accused have been booked beneath IPC sections 308 for try to commit culpable murder, 420 for fraud, 274 for adulteration of drug, 275 on the market of adulterated drug and sections of the Disaster Management Act and Essential Commodities Act.