Bengaluru FSDA Busts ₹5 Crore Spurious Drug Racket; Fake Pfizer Labels Found At Farmhouse, SIT Probe Ordered | Video
Bengaluru’s Food Safety and Drug Administration has busted a spurious drug racket operating from a leased farmhouse near Bidadi and seized medicines worth over ₹5 crore. Officials found fake labels, including Pfizer, packaging equipment and invoices. The government has formed an SIT, suspecting an interstate and international network sourcing drugs from multiple states.
Bengaluru FSDA Busts ₹5 Crore Spurious Drug Racket; Fake Pfizer Labels Found At Farmhouse, SIT Probe Ordered | Video | X
Bengaluru: The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDSA) have busted a racket that used to manufacture spurious drugs, including used in cancer treatment and confiscated spurious drugs worth over ₹ five crore.
The drugs were being manufactured in a farm house near Bidadi, Bengaluru South District in a leased farm house and the officials have seized cartons containing medicine packets, fresh labels, including the labels of Pfizer company, notching machine and the invoices being raised in the name of Kaushik Pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, Health Minister U T Khader said that the racket had a larger ramification and the government had formed SIT to probe, as it looked like an `inter-state and international racket. The drugs are reportedly sourced from Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and other states.
The officials suspect that the spurious medicines were being repacked and relabelled to make them look like products of established multinational pharmaceutical companies. All the medicines found on the premises were seized.
Stating that they acted on a police tip off, FSDA Commissioner K Srinivas said that the establishment was operating without a valid drug licence. ``Our officers were accompanied by a police team. Labels of all major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer were found. The spurious drugs were sourced for just ₹ 600 to ₹ 700, repacked and sold at ₹ 6000 to ₹ 7000. We are investigating their source and supply chain,'' he said.
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The department will trace retailers who bought the mislabelled drugs, and, if possible, identify buyers who may have unknowingly purchased the spurious medicines, he said.
The police investigation revealed that the farm house belonged to one Siddaiah, who had leased it to Prashanth, who lives in Dubai. Prashanth's relative Tejas is looking after the farm house. Prabhu Deva Gowda, who is working in the farm has been picked up for interrogation and he had confessed that the medicine relabelling was operational for the last five months, police added.
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