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Hospital booked, three held for selling remdesivir for ₹45,000/vial
Gurugram: Three people, including two hospital staff, were arrested for black marketing remdesivir--a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, and charging ₹45,000 per vial amid the shortage of the medicine in the market
Gurugram: Three people, including two hospital staff, were arrested for black marketing remdesivir--a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, and charging ₹45,000 per vial amid the shortage of the medicine in the market. Five vials of remdesivir were also recovered from the suspects, said police.
A case has also been registered against Narayana Hospital in DLF Phase 3 for cheating and negligence after the suspects revealed they used to steal injection and sold them at premium rates, said police.
In a joint raid conducted by the chief minister’s flying squad, the crime investigation agency of Sector-40 and district drug controller on Sunday, a decoy customer was sent to buy the injection at Sector 52 and the suspects were arrested while handing over the vials, said police.
Amandeep Chauhan, district drug controller, said he received a secret information that a nexus of hospital staff is engaged in black marketing and hoarding of remdesivir, which they were selling for ₹45,000 per injection. The informer provided the contact number of the suspects on the condition that his identity remains confidential. “A head constable was asked to make a call as a decoy customer. It was decided that the injections will be delivered at gate no 2 of Ardee ity at 10pm on Saturday,” said Chauhan.
The suspect asked the decoy to receive the injection from the T-point of gate 2 and told him he will come on a scooty. The suspects also asked him to pay ₹45,000 for a remdesivir injection and agreed to deliver five injections for ₹2,25,000 in Sector 52.
Chauhan said two teams kept a distance from the decoy customer and followed him in plain clothes. “After 15 minutes, one person came at the decided spot and informed the decoy that the injections are reaching in five minutes. A woman came, handed over the injections to the suspect and went away. While one staff member followed her, our teams caught the suspect while he was handing over the injections to our decoy and asking for money,” he said.
The suspect was identified as Chetan Kapoor, a resident of Punjab working as a senior security assistant at Max Hospital, Gurugram. Meanwhile, police followed the woman up to a house on the ground floor and asked her to come out.
Police said around 11.10pm Chetan got a call on his mobile. He informed the person that police had apprehended him and now, his wife will also be arrested.
Chauhan said the caller was identified as Nitin Jose, a resident of Kerala who works as a nursing staff supervisor at Narayana Hospital, and was told to reach the spot in 10 minutes. “The woman was identified as Lima Oomen. She disclosed that her husband Jose gave her those injections and usually asked her to hand them over to prospective buyers,” he said.
When asked from where he procured the remdesivir injections, Jose said he got the injections from Narayana Hospital. Instead of administering the injection to the patients, he made entries that he had injected the vials and later stole them, said police.
Inderjeet Yadav, deputy superintendent of police, crime investigation department (CID), said families were paying for the injection, which the suspects never injected. “These injections are further sold by him through his network in the black market. He was working with Chetan at Max Hospital in Gurugram earlier. It is a major flaw on the part of Narayana Hospital to allow this pilferage.”
Chauhan said they are investigating if the patients who paid for the injection survived or died. “This is a matter of investigation. It is a heinous crime that someone, who was to be administered this injection, did not get the dose,” he said.
The teams suspect more people from these hospitals are involved in this nexus. However, the suspects have not given any names so far, said police.
The Narayan Hospital is responsible for this negligence and carelessness, which is a criminal act and breach of trust, said police.
Harish Budhiraja, inspector, chief minister’s flying squad, said they conducted a recce of the house into which the woman had entered. “We knew there are more people involved in black marketing, so we followed the woman. She entered a house in Housing board colony in Sector 52, which we raided and then arrested her,” he said.
Police said they are yet to verify details as to from where the injection was supplied to the private hospital and how the suspects stole them. The number of vials and the persons who bought them are also being ascertained.
A case was registered at Sector 53 police station under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Sections 27(2) and 27-D of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,1940, and Sections 420 (cheating ),120B (conspiracy) of the IPC.
In a statement released on Sunday, the spokesperson of Max Healthcare said, “We have been informed by the police regarding an incident involving one of our staff. We have checked our stock of remdesivir and have not found anything amiss. We are supporting the authorities in their investigation”.
Narayana hospital did not respond to messages and calls despite repeated attempts.
