Misused in dairy, 70,000 banned injections of oxytocin seized in Bathinda

The hormone is also used to increase the size of vegetables such as pumpkins, watermelons, brinjals, gourds and cucumbers.

A team of officials from the Punjab police and the health department seized a consignment of 70,000 injections of oxytocin hormone from a house in Partap Nagar in Bathinda on Friday evening. The misuse of oxytocin, whose manufacture and sale is banned in the private sector, is widespread in the dairy industry where livestock are injected with it to make them release milk at a time convenient to farmers.

Frequent use of oxytocin causes hormonal imbalance in animals. (HT File)

The hormone is also used to increase the size of vegetables such as pumpkins, watermelons, brinjals, gourds and cucumbers. Its frequent use causes hormonal imbalance in animals. An accused, Raj Kumar, has been booked for cheating under section 420 of the IPC and under the Indian Medical Council Act at the Colony police station. DSP City-I Gurjit Singh Romana said that 70,000 injections have been recovered and the recovered quantity is about 459 litre.

“Around 25,000 vials bear labels of oxytocin, but the rest are without any label. The accused had purchased the oxytocin from a man at Hooghly in West Bengal. It is manufactured in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh,” Romana added.

In April, the Centre had banned the manufacture and sale of oxytocin by the private sector.