Fake medicine producing unit busted, nine of nexus arrested

Delhi Police arrested nine in a fake medicine ring in Bihar, uncovering a unit producing spurious drugs, including painkillers and antibiotics.

The Delhi Police crime branch on Saturday said they have they busted a fake medicine manufacturing unit in Bihar’s Gaya on Friday and have arrested nine members of the syndicate. This is the second such bust in Bihar since last week.

The accused were mass-producing popular painkillers, cough and cold medicines and supplements in their factories and selling them across several states.

Police said the prime accused, Arun Singh, 59, was allegedly running an illegal drug manufacturing unit in Gaya. The accused were mass-producing popular painkillers, cough and cold medicines and supplements in their factories and selling them across several states.

A team under deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Satendra Mohan, conducted the raid in Patna last week, police said.

“During investigation, it came to light that Tanishq who was arrested in the previous raid had worked with Arun Singh from Gaya. A team was dispatched to Gaya and Arun was arrested,” said the DCP.

Arun was found running a fake factory in Gaya that lacked any license to manufacture the medicines. “The drug department team from Gaya was called. A huge quantity of equipment, spurious tablets/vials, packing material were found. We recovered a total of 1,19,800 spurious tablets of Zinc, 42,480 spurious tablets of Azithromycin, 27 Kgs of Paracetamol, 444 spurious ampules of Dilona Aqua along with other vials” the DCP added.

“Arun processed the smuggled tramadol powder, 5 kgs of which is worth more than ₹5 crore in the international market, and made tablets in his factory. The tablets were then diverted to be sold through bogus medical fronts at inflated prices. Such tablets are being used in place of heroin,” said an officer associated with the case.

Meanwhile, the Drugs Control Department conducted a special enforcement drive at Nangloi on Tuesday, inspecting 12 drug retailers.

According to officials, 10 of the 12 firms were found violating the Drugs Rules, 1945. Action has been initiated against the erring retailers under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. During the drive, enforcement teams also collected 49 survey samples of various medicines for testing and analysis to verify compliance with prescribed quality standards.

Delhi health minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh said the government remains committed to protecting citizens from spurious and substandard medicines.