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Fake chemo drug racket: Police record statement of arrested Turk
A Turkish national was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly supplying fake chemo injections to cancer patients for ?2.5 lakh per injection. The accused allegedly told police that he used to visit India twice a month and used to bring with him fake injections that were sufficient to cheat intended victims of at least ?1 crore. The police have arrested several individuals involved in the trade and have recovered fake injections of defibrotide, a drug used in cancer treatment. The suspects have revealed the entire chain of individuals involved in the trade.
A day after a Turkish national was arrested from Mumbai for allegedly supplying fake chemo injections to cancer patients for ₹2.5 lakh per injection, he allegedly told police that he used to visit India twice a month and used to bring with him fake injections that were sufficient to cheat intended victims of at least ₹1 crore, police said on Friday.
Police said the suspect, identified as Ali Tarmanani, was arrested from a hotel in Mumbai on Thursday in possession of a strolley bag full of injections.
Police said they have recorded his statement and he has revealed the entire chain of individuals involved in the trade.
Police said Tarmanani supplied the fake injections to a Noida-based pharmacy owner, who further distributed the drugs to a carrier named Motiur Rehman Ansari, who in turn supplied them to Sandeep Bhui, the first person to be arrested in the case on April 21. It was he who supplied the injection to patients or their kin.
Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said they registered a case on April 21 on a complaint by a Panipat resident, who had bought injections from Bhui for ₹10 lakh.
“The first arrest was made on April 21 from outside a private hospital in Sector 52. The suspect, Sandeep Bhui, revealed the names of his supplier -- a Noida pharmacy owner-- and the Turkish national following which other arrests were made on April 28 and May 3 from Noida. We also recovered from Bhui’s possession fake injections of defibrotide, a drug used in cancer treatment,” said Sangwan.
Sangwan said the suspects told police that a doctor of a prominent hospital in the city was also involved in the racket. However, they could not find any evidence pointing to monetary transactions in his call detail records or his WhatsApp chats, investigators said.
“The doctor is still under scanner. Bhui told us that he used to procure injections from a supplier in Turkey (Ali Tarmanani) and sell them in India. Tarmanani has been supplying to India since the past four years and has at least 50 suppliers in different states, including those in Delhi-NCR,” he said.
Amandeep Chauhan. drugs control officer, Gurugram, said Tarmanani had no licence or bill to travel with these injections and it is illegal to bring in injections from other countries without valid documentation or approval. “There were some serious lapses and a proper investigation is required in the case. There are many suppliers and pharmacies involved in the case,” he said.
Police said they have also arrested the director of Noida-based Heartland Pharmacy, identified as Kanishk Rajkumar, late Wednesday night.
Sangwan said the third suspect, Motiur Rehman Ansari, who allegedly supplied the fake injections to Bhui, surrendered before the drugs control department on April 28.
“Ansari revealed that he procured 40 fake chemo injections from Heartland Pharmacy in Noida and these were further sold to patient families for ₹2.5 lakh each. These medicines had been brought from the pharmacy on the recommendation of a doctor from a prominent private hospital in Gurugram,” Sangwan said.
