The Indian Express ·
Fake-drug racket suspect holed up in Azerbaijan, Karnataka mulls CBI probe
Unlicensed facilities in South Bengaluru allegedly procured substandard and expired medicines from outside Karnataka and passed them off as medicines made by prominent multinationals such as Pfizer.
The Karnataka government is considering handing the probe into the multi-crore-rupee counterfeit drug racket unearthed near Bidadi over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as the prime accused is holed up in Azerbaijan and the racket has interstate links, sources said Wednesday.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has arrested five people in the case, is exploring steps to bring back R Prashant, one of the key suspects, from Azerbaijan, where immigration authorities have reportedly seized his passport, the sources said.
Counterfeit and expired medicines worth around Rs 5 crore were seized in Bengaluru South district in August. Investigations indicate the medicines were manufactured in other states and brought to Karnataka for distribution.
Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader, speaking to reporters in Mangaluru on Tuesday, said the state government was considering referring the case to the central agency for a comprehensive investigation, given the alleged involvement of manufacturers and distributors operating across multiple states.
Among the arrested accused is Veeresh Kumar Jain, owner of Krupa Health Care. The SIT raided his unit near Minerva Circle in Bengaluru last week.
Spurious medicines, illegal repackaging, 50% discount
The racket, involving critical-care, ICU, and cancer medicines, was busted at an alleged illegal repackaging and relabelling facility operating from a farmhouse near Bidadi and Hejjala in Bengaluru South.
According to the preliminary investigation, the unlicensed facility sourced cheap, substandard, and expired medicines from illegal manufacturing units in states including Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.
The operators allegedly transferred the medicines into new vials and affixed forged labels and stamps bearing the names of prominent multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer.
The allegedly spurious and substandard medicines were then supplied to hospitals and pharmacies at steep discounts, reportedly around 50 per cent below the market price, potentially putting patients receiving critical and intensive-care treatment at risk.
Treat sale of fake medicines as attempt to murder: Minister
Khader said penalties for offences involving counterfeit medicines were inadequate as they often resulted only in licence cancellation or nominal fines. He said he would urge the Union government to introduce stringent legal provisions against the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines.
The minister also advocated treating the manufacture and sale of fake medicines as an attempt to murder, citing the potential threat they pose to patients.
“Those running such mafias and playing with people’s lives must be prosecuted under stringent criminal provisions,” Khader said.
He alleged that existing laws allowed offenders to shift their operations to places such as Kerala or Chennai and establish new businesses in the names of family members.
Police and health department officials said they were yet to receive laboratory reports on allegations that the cartel had also supplied counterfeit medicines meant for cancer treatment.
MLC’s complaint about Pushti powder quality
Meanwhile, Khader directed officials from the women and child development and health departments to collect samples of Pushti nutritional powder supplied to children through anganwadi centres in Shivamogga and send them for laboratory testing.
The directive followed a complaint by MLC Dhananjay Sarji over the quality of the nutritional powder. Sarji alleged that the government had procured the nutritional powder from private agencies without adequate quality checks.
The Opposition MLC also urged the government to establish sophisticated laboratories for testing food and drug samples in Shivamogga and Mangaluru, respectively.