Six held for illegal sale of Remdesivir in Chandigarh

Among those arrested is the director of Health Biotech Limited, a pharmaceutical firm based in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh; 3,000 doses of the drug recovered

Six people, including the director of a pharmaceutical firm based in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, have been arrested for illegal sale of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug given to Covid-19 patients, Chandigarh Police said on Sunday.

The accused in the custody of the Chandigarh Police on Sunday. (HT Photo)

Around 3,000 Remdesivir doses were also seized from the firm, identified as Health Biotech Limited.

The operations cell of Chandigarh Police raided a luxury hotel in Chandigarh following a tip-off on Saturday, where five men from other states were allegedly striking a deal for illegal distribution of Remdesivir, said police. They have been identified as Abhishek PV, Philip Jacob and KP Francis of Kerala besides Susheel Kumar of South Delhi and Parbhat Tyagi of Madhya Pradesh.

On disclosures made by them, the pharmaceutical firm was raided and the illegally stored medicine was seized in the presence of the local drug inspector. The company director, Gaurav Chawla, who is a resident of Zirakpur, has also been arrested, said police.

Officials privy to the matter said that glaring irregularities were found in the physical verification of stock, pointing towards diversion of the drug towards domestic markets after the government banned its export.

A case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code besides under the Essential Commodities Act and Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been registered at the Sector-17 police station. The accused were presented in court on Sunday and sent to four-day police remand.