Eight arrested in Hyderabad for blackmarketing of COVID drugs

Hyderabad police on Tuesday busted an interstate gang with the arrest of eight people for blackmarketing medicines used for treatment of coronavirus The police also seized medicines worth Rs 35 lakhs and eight mobile phones The sleuths of Commissioners Task Force South Zone team with the assistance of Chaderghat police apprehended eight accused who were blackmarketing generic versions of Remdesivir Actemra and Fabiflu medicines which are being used for COVID19 patientsHyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said the police seized 51 Remdesivir 100 mg injections nine Actemra 400 mg injections and four Actemra 80 mg injectionsOne of the accused Gagan Khurana is a resident of Delhi while others are from Hyderabad Almost all the accused are either medical distributors or running medical agencies The accused are K Venkata Subramanyam Santosh Kumar Mohd Shaker K Kishore Rahul Agarwal Gagan Khurana Saif Ali Mohammed and Firdous Mohammed Police said as antiviral drugs Remdesivir Actemra and FabiFlu are being used for treatment of COVID their demand increased across the country within a short period Remdesivir is being manufactured by Hetero Company unit located at Sangareddy The accused formed a group and started black marketing of emergency drug for COVID19 patients to earn easy money illegallyThe police investigations revealed that prime accused Venkata Subramanyam was allegedly purchasing the drugs from Hetero Company The medicines were being sold by the accused for a profit ranging from Rs 3500 to Rs 18000 The medicine was being sold to customer for a price between Rs 30000 to Rs 40000 depending on the demand Accused Rahul Agarwal was procuring Actemra drug from Delhi through one Gagan Khurana and selling the same to the needy customers at higher priceAccording to police while of Covifer Remedesivir had Maximum Retail Price MRP of Rs 5400 the same was being sold for Rs 30000 to Rs 40000 While nine 400 mg injections of Actemra Tocilizumab carried MRP Rs 40000 it was was sold for Rs 90000 100000 Four 80 mg injections of Actemra Tocilizumab were sold for Rs 25000 against their MRP of Rs 8000 Similarly they were also selling FabiFlu tablets and COVID19 rapid testing kits for higher pricesPolice also seized net cash of Rs 55000 and eight mobile phones from the accused As per the procedure mentioned on the box of these drugs they are meant for institutionalhospital sale only Remdesivir drug comes with a consent form that has to be filled and signed by the patientattendant and concerned doctor at the time of administration of drug A copy of consent form has to be handed over to patient or attendants It is the duty of the institution to ensure availability of consent form all the time especially during inspection by CDSCODCGIThe police commissioner appealed to people not to get lured and cheated by brokers or fake agents He said in case of any doubt citizens can send information on WhatsApp at 9490616555 or contact local patrol carCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever