Lucknow: Doctor, five others arrested for black marketing of lifesaving injections
Six people, including a doctor of the emergency medicine department of Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS), were arrested for black marketing of lifesaving injections in the Wazirganj police station area here on Wednesday, said senior police officials
Six people, including a doctor of the emergency medicine department of Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS), were arrested for black marketing of lifesaving injections in the Wazirganj police station area here on Wednesday, said senior police officials.
Inspector (Wazirganj police station) Dhananjay Kumar Pandey said those arrested were identified as Dr Wamiq Hussain of RMLIMS’s emergency medicine department, Mohd Raqeeb, who is the franchise owner of a pharma company, Mohd Arif, a ward boy at King George’s Medical University’s emergency medicine department, Mohd Imran, a technician at KGMU’s emergency medicine department, Balvir Singh, a pharmacist at a private hospital, and Rajesh Kumar Singh, a salesman with a surgical equipment firm.
He said they were arrested for selling the lifesaving injections—remdesivir and liposomal amphotericin B— at exorbitant rates during the pandemic outbreak. He said 28 vials of liposomal amphotericin-B used for the treatment of black fungus disease and 18 vials of remdesivir used for the treatment of lung infection were recovered from their possession.
He also said they were arrested after the police laid a trap on the complaint of a person who had contacted them to purchase the lifesaving injections.
The inspector said the investigation revealed that the accused used to sell one injection for ₹20,000 and the doctor used to get ₹5,000 per injection. He said the doctor himself used to deliver the injections in his car.
The authorities at RMLIMS were informed about the doctor’s arrest and involvement in the illegal practice, the inspector said.
He also said the hospital authorities would further initiate an independent inquiry into his involvement in the black marketing of injections. Further investigation by the police was on, he said.