The police busted a Remdesivir black marketing racket wherein the vials were being sold for over eight times the original price, officials said.
The police have arrested a man from Navi Mumbai and have seized three vials from him. Investigations are on as to from where he had sourced the vials.
The arrested person has been identified as RD Kanade (38), a resident of Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai.
According to the police, specific information was received by them that a man would be arriving at Shivaji Chowk in Khandeshwar area on late Saturday night in order to sell Remdesivir vials in black. The police had also learnt that person was supposed to sell each vial for Rs 25,000, while original cost of each vials is around Rs 1,500.
A trap was laid at the said place and Kanade was nabbed as soon as he arrived there. On searching him, the police found three vials of Remdesevir. Kanade also could not produce any bill or license with regards to the possession of the vials, police said.
"On searching Kanade, we found an identity card from his possession. The identity card was of a pathology laboratory and had Kanade's photograph on it. We are probing if it was a genuine or a bogus identity card. Despite repeatedly asking from where he had sourced the vials, Kanade did not reveal anything to us," said a police officer.
The police had informed Food and Drug Administration officials about the seizure of vials and registered a criminal offence against Kanade on Sunday under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Essential Commodities Act.
"We are questioning Kanade as to whether he had sold such vials before to anyone illegally. We have seized his mobile phone and are probing who were his clients and if more people are involved in this racket," the officer said.
