A WhatsApp chat has emerged as a key link in the investigation into the alleged supply of counterfeit anti-rabies vaccine from Kanpur to Delhi and other places, with a bill shared in the conversation helping drug officials connect two medicine traders after 481 fake Abhayrab vials were seized in the national capital.
An FIR was registered at Collectorganj police station on Sunday night against Baljeet Kaur, her husband Rajinder Singh and Tarandeep Singh.
The FIR was lodged on the complaint of drug inspector Devyani Dubey under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 277, 318(4), 338, 336(3) and 340(2), covering offences related to adulterated drugs, cheating, forgery of documents, forgery for cheating and use of forged documents as genuine, respectively.
DCP East Satyajeet Gupta said the FIR was registered against the three accused based on the drug inspector’s complaint. He said police would arrest the three accused soon.
The case began after the Delhi drug control department seized 481 vials of Abhayrab anti-rabies vaccine from a pharmaceutical firm at Bhagirath Palace. The manufacturer subsequently confirmed that the vaccine was not genuine. Delhi officials traced the supply to a medicine trader at 58/45, Birhana Road, Kanpur.
Delhi Police raided the premises on September 23 and took Rajinder Singh into custody. The action was followed by an investigation by the Kanpur drugs department into the two traders.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi Police raided the premises on September 23 and took Rajinder Singh into custody. The action was followed by an investigation by the Kanpur drugs department into the two traders.
{{/usCountry}}During the inquiry, Rajinder told drug officials that he had purchased the suspected counterfeit vaccine from Tarandeep Singh. Tarandeep, however, denied selling the vaccine.
The investigation moved forward when Rajinder showed drug inspector Om Pal Singh WhatsApp conversations on his mobile phone. According to the drugs department, the chats showed Tarandeep sending a bill relating to the transaction.
Om Pal then called the number from which the messages had allegedly been sent. Officials said Tarandeep answered the call, further linking the number to the transaction.
The drugs department raided Rajinder’s premises on September 23 but found it locked and sealed the shop. During a detailed inspection on September 25, no vaccine was recovered. However, records showed that Abhayrab had been supplied to medical stores in Delhi, Agra, Hardoi and Unnao.
The records showed that the vaccine had been purchased from Tarandeep’s establishment on Express Road. His premises was also found locked during the raid, and no stock was recovered during the September 25 inspection.
Although no vaccine was recovered from either premises, officials found records of transactions between the two traders. Examination of their bank accounts showed transfers worth lakhs of rupees. Officials said the traders could not satisfactorily explain the transactions and some bills were found to be forged.
Drug inspector Om Pal said the department was trying to establish where the vaccine sent to Agra had gone. He said the two traders were blaming each other, while forged bills had been prepared and financial transactions worth lakhs of rupees had taken place between their accounts. The FIR was registered on the basis of these findings, he said.
The investigation is also focused on 839 vials returned by an Agra firm to Rajinder after it suspected that the vaccine was counterfeit. Rajinder has not been able to account for the vials, and the drugs department is trying to trace them.
Additional district magistrate (ADM) city Saurabh Singh said the action followed the seizure of counterfeit anti-rabies vaccine in Delhi. “After the fake anti-rabies vaccine was seized in Delhi, Delhi police conducted a raid in Kanpur,” he said.
Officials are now trying to establish the source of the counterfeit vaccine and determine how widely it was distributed.