Probe Reveals Fake Antibiotics Supply To Government Hospitals; Talcum Powder Mixed With Starch
Several chargesheets filed by rural police in September revealed shocking details regarding the supply of fake drugs to government hospitals across India. The antibiotics distributed to several government hospitals were the talcum powder mixed with starch, according to a report by the Times of India.
The fake drugs were reportedly manufactured in a Haridwar-based laboratory of veterinary medicines. Notably, the drug racket also used the hawala channels to transfer crores of rupees from Mumbai to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The police have made around a 1,200-page chargesheet in connection with the dubious drug supply.
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The alarming development first surfaced in December 2023, when the drug inspector found antibiotics supplied to the rural hospital at Kalmeshwar as fake. The inspector, Nitin Bhandarkar, then registered an offence against the suppliers and distributors at Kalmeshwar police station. The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) busted the racket and around 21,600 Ciprofloxacin 500mg tablets were confiscated from the medicine stores under the Nagpur Civil Surgeon at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH) back then.
The civil surgeon’s office later blacklisted the involved drug companies and distributors. However, raising further concerns with more such instances in the country, similar fake drug suppliers’ operations were later unearthed in the subsequent investigations by rural police.
After Nagpur rural police investigation started revealing many such cases, many similar cases were registered in several other places, including Wardha, Nanded, Thane, and some other areas in Maharashtra.
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IPS officer Anil Mhaske, who is currently investigating the case, said that the cases were initially registered against Hemant Muley, who had participated in the tender to supply drugs to government hospitals in Nagpur. Later, the police registered offences against offences against Mihir Trivedi and Vijay Chaudhury.
Notably, while questioning Chaudhury, police got leads about the spurious drug operations in Haryana. After Chaudhary named another associate, a supplier of suspicious fake medicine, police carried out an operation in Haryana. The police said that they had gone to Haryana to raid the location, racketeers’ bank details, and multi-crore transactions, as reported by the Times of India.
