Two arrested in fake ointment racket bust, over 7.5k tubes seized
Delhi Police arrested two gang members in Ghaziabad, seizing over 7,500 tubes of counterfeit ointments worth ₹2.3 crore from an illegal factory.
Delhi Police’s Crime Branch on Sunday said it had arrested two members of gang and seized more than 7,500 tubes of prescription-only ointments which were being produced at an illegal factory in Mirpur Hindu village, Ghaziabad.
According to police, nearly 1,200 tubes of Betnovate C, 2,700 tubes of Clop-G, 3,700 tubes of Skinshine, 22,000 empty fake Clop-G tubes, and over 350 kg of spuriously made ointments — valued at around ₹2.3 crore — along with other chemicals and machinery were seized.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Aditya Gautam said that the cyber cell of the Crime Branch had recently raided Teliwara — a wholesale market of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in north Delhi’s Sadar Bazar — and a large quantity of counterfeit Schedule-H ointments was seized.
“The counterfeit medicines included Betnovate-C and Clop-G. These medicines are widely used for treating sports injuries and skin allergies, making their spurious circulation extremely dangerous for consumers,” said Gautam.
“Further digging led to a manufacturing unit involved in the production of these medicines in Mirpur Hindu village near Loni, Ghaziabad on Saturday. A massive quantity of finished counterfeit medicines, packaging material, chemicals, and manufacturing machinery was seized from the factory in the presence of drug inspectors and representatives of pharmaceutical companies,” the DCP added.
Two men, identified as Gaurav Bhagat (42) and Shree Ram (27), were arrested during the raid. They were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and an FIR was registered at the Crime Branch police station on Saturday.
DCP Gautam added: “The drug inspectors from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and authorised representatives of pharmaceutical companies conducted spot inspections and drew samples. They confirmed that the seized ointments were counterfeit and neither manufactured nor supplied by their companies. The racketeers did not have any valid licence to manufacture, store, or sell such medicines.”
Police said further investigations and raids are underway to dismantle the entire supply chain of the racket, including sellers, delivery handlers, and distributors involved in the illegal trade.
