Fake BP medicine racket: Odisha asks Bihar to provide information of supplies

Early this month, two medicine distributors in Cuttack were arrested after huge quantities of fake Telma-40 and Telma-AM tablets, two popular medicines to control blood pressure, were seized during raids

Updated on: Sep 23, 2022, 13:47:24 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Odisha government has requested the Bihar health secretary to instruct its drug controller to provide details of the drug supplies that arrived from Bihar following the seizure of fake blood pressure control medicines from godowns in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

For representational purposes only. (AP File Photo)

State health secretary NB Dhal in a letter to his Bihar counterpart Pratyaya Amrit said that assistant drug controllers Tushar Ranjan Panigrahi and Dharmadev Puhan of Odisha have gone to Bihar to obtain details of the drug manufacturer from the administration.

Dhal said that the Odisha government had earlier requested the Bihar drugs controller on two occasions for the details, but received no response.

“It is requested that necessary instructions may kindly be issued to the concerned authorities to extend their cooperation to the team deputed for the purpose so as to take things to a logical conclusion,” Dhal said.

Also Read:Uttarakhand STF raids illegal pharma units, busts inter-state fake drugs racket

Early this month, two medicine distributors in Cuttack were arrested after huge quantities of fake Telma-40 and Telma-AM tablets, two popular medicines to control blood pressure, were seized during raids by officials of the state Drug Control Administration in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. A laboratory test of the seized drugs confirmed those to be fake. The investigation revealed that these agencies had allegedly procured the fake drugs from Gaya in Bihar and Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The police also froze ₹12 lakh in two bank accounts of the two medicine distributors. A four-member team of the Cuttack police commissionerate has gone to Gaya to trace the manufacturers of the fake drugs.

Glenmark, the manufacturer of Telma-40 and Telma-AM, has clarified that it did not manufacture the fake drugs seized in Odisha.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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