NE NEWS SERVICE
VALSAD, MUMBAI, APR 18
A top executive of a Daman-based pharmaceutical company and his aide have been arrested from Valsad district in Gujarat for allegedly black marketing Remdesivir drug, which is in high demand for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, police said on Sunday.
The arrested duo is identified as Manish Singh, Technical Director of Daman-based Bruck Pharma, and his acquaintance Varun Kundra, who owns a furniture shop in Daman, said Valsad district superintendent of police Rajdeepsinh Zala.
They were arrested from Vapi town in Valsad district on April 15 and 18 vials of Remdesivir injections were recovered from them, he said.
Notably, Mumbai Police on Saturday night questioned Bruck Pharma director Rajesh Dokania on information that at least 60,000 Remdesivir vials are being exported through air cargo, despite a ban on the export of the drug.
“Acting on a specific tip-off, Valsad police set up a trap after learning that Varun Kundra was selling Remdesivir injections at a very high price without any license.
“When one of our policemen approached Kundra posing as a relative of a patient, he agreed to sell one injection for Rs 12,000 and 12 injections for Rs 1.44 lakh. As soon as he showed one vial, other police personnel caught him. Kundra claimed that he purchased the drug from his friend Manish Singh,” said Zala.
Kundra was then told to call Singh, a resident of Vapi, to the spot with six more vials of the injection for a customer, he said.
“Singh was caught with six injections as soon as he reached the spot,” the SP said.
As per the preliminary investigation, Singh came in contact with Kundra when the former had visited his shop to purchase some furniture recently.
“Bruck Pharma has the license to manufacture and export Remdesivir injections,” said Zala.
Since Remdesivir is in high demand, Kundra planned to earn a quick buck and acquired 12 injections from Singh which he planned to sell at a price much higher than the MRP, the police officer said.
“Singh did not have any license or doctor”s prescription to sell or store Remdesivir injections. He had also planned to sell those six injections for profit. We arrested both the accused and recovered 18 vials,” said Zala.
A case has been registered on the charge of cheating and other sections of the Essential Commodities Act, the Disaster Management Act, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, he added.
Remdesivir stock: Pharma company director likely to be quizzed again by Mumbai police
Mumbai police are likely to call the director a pharma company for one more round of questioning for allegedly stocking thousands of Remdesivir medicine vials, an official said on Sunday.
Rajesh Dokania, director of Bruck Pharma, a Daman-based pharmaceutical company that manufactures Remdesivir vials, was questioned on Saturday night, the police official said.
Police have said that they had information that the Remdesivir stock was going to be flown abroad by air cargo, despite a ban on the export of the drug.
“Dokania was questioned at the BKC police station,” the official said, adding that the cops later allowed him to go, but asked him to remain present for inquiry whenever he is called.
“While the director of the pharma company was brought for questioning at the police station, a team of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) was also present there,” Mumbai police spokesperson S Chaitanya said in a statement on Sunday.
The commissioner and the joint commissioner of the FDA were also aware of the questioning, the statement said.
Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis had visited the police station on Saturday night along with other BJP leaders. Fadnavis had enquired why the director of the pharmaceutical company was called to the police station, he said in the statement.
Fadnavis had also said that permission was taken from the FDA commissioner to donate the stock of Remdesevir vials to the Maharashtra government, as Remdesevir stocked for export cannot be diverted to the domestic market without the nod of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) or the FDA.
The communication from the FDA to the pharmaceutical company was not shared with the BKC police station, which was acting independently on the information available with them, said the Mumbai police spokesperson.
“Mumbai police acted in good faith,” the statement said, adding that the pharma company director was called for inquiry in order to trace and seize a large quantity of 60,000 vials of Remdesevir based on specific verified inputs.
This inquiry was necessary in light of complaints of rampant hoarding and black marketing of Remdesevir and shortage being faced by citizens, it added.
These facts were explained to the Leaders of Opposition. They were informed that necessary legal action will be taken against those illegally hoarding Remdesevir. Senior officers of Mumbai Police were also present, the statement added.
Meanwhile, another senior police official said the stock of 60,000 vials has not been seized yet.
