Two held for Remdesivir black marketing after sting operation by news channel

The owner of a pharmacy shop in east Delhi and his employee have been arrested for allegedly black marketing Remdesivir, a drug used in the treatment of critically ill Covid-19 patients, the Delhi Police said on Monday

The owner of a pharmacy shop in east Delhi and his employee have been arrested for allegedly black marketing Remdesivir, a drug used in the treatment of critically ill Covid-19 patients, the Delhi Police said on Monday.

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According to the police, the arrests were in response to a sting operation by new channel ABP News, whose reporter had posed as a decoy customer to seek Remdesivir vials.

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal identified the arrested men as the pharmacy shop owner Basant Goel, 41, and his employee, Ramaoutar Singh, 27.

Goel, a resident of Vivek Vihar, runs a pharmacy shop by the name ‘Goyal Medicos’ in east Delhi’s Durgapuri Extension, the officer said.

The duo has been booked on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy in a case registered by the crime branch on Monday.

The sting video purportedly showed one of the two arrested men offering Remdesivir vials at a price between ₹18,000 and ₹20,000 per vial -- more than three times its original price. The man seen in the video is purportedly heard saying that the unavailability of the drug has led to the price shooting up to ₹25,000 per vial.

HT could not independently verify the contents of the sting video put out by the news channel.