Delhi Police Crime Branch busts fake Remdesivir manufacturing unit in Uttarakhand, 7 held

New Delhi [India], May 1 : In a major crackdown on black marketing of counterfeit drugs, Delhi Crime Branch's inter-state cell busted a manufacturing unit of 'fake Remdesivir' at Uttarakhand's Kotdwar and arrested seven people associated with the inter-state racket of 'fake life-saving injections'.
In a statement, Monika Bhardwaj, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch (Delhi) said, police seized 198 vials of fake 'Remdesivir injections', one packing machine, one batch coding machine, 3,000 empty vials to be used in packing of "Remdesivir" and other Packing materials of Azithromycin, one computer used to change the labels of anti-biotic injection vials (identical packing of Remdesivir) with COVIPRI to sell them as Remdesivir, one car, and one scooty.
"Crime Branch identified an interstate gang and apprehended two accused--Mohd. Shoiab Khan and Mohan Kumar Jha-- from MB Road, Sangam Vihar, New Delhi who were found indulging in black marketing of fake life saving 'Remdesivir injections', and recovered 10 'Remdesivir Injections' from their possession," Bhardwaj said. A case has also been filed against the two accused.
Upon 'sustained interrogation', she said they disclosed a whole gang operating in major cities supplying "Remdesivir injections" at exorbitant rates of Rs 25,000 - Rs 40,000.
"Upon this, raids were conducted at different places and five more accused persons--Manish Goyal, Pushkar Chanderkant Pakhale, Sadhna Sharma, Vatan Kumar Saini, and Aditya Gautam-- were arrested and 188 more vials of Remdesivir injections by the name of 'COVIPRI', one packing Machine, 3,000 empty vials to be used in packing of the so-called 'Remdesivir Injections', and packing material of Azithromycin has also been recovered from the possession of accused persons and manufacturing unit of these fake Remdesivir injections has been busted in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand," the DCP added.
As the demand for 'Remdesivir' injections and other life-saving drugs have soared very high, Bhardwaj informed the accused persons encashed the situation and started to prepare the fake 'Remdesivir' with "anti-biotic injection vials" by changing their labels with COVIPRI to sell them as Remdesivir.
"They used to sell these injections in the black market at higher prices and earn huge profit. They have set up a network of persons who supply the injections on demand. A number of persons are involved in this black marketing of fake injections and other life-saving drugs," she added.
She added that several teams of Crime Branch are conducting raids in various parts of Uttarakhand to unearth further chain involved in supplying and black marketing of fake life-saving drugs.
"The alleged company-- Nector Herbs and Drugs company at Kotdwar, Uttarakhand is being sealed," she informed