On Tuesday, the Delhi Police cracked down on a fake drug racket and arrested seven individuals, including two hospital employees from a hospital in Rohini, northwest Delhi, involved in the manufacturing and distribution of fake cancer drugs. On Wednesday, one more accused person was arrested, taking the total count to eight.
The accused were found to be filling empty vials of anti-fungal medicine valued at Rs 100 and selling them across the country, as well as in China and the US. The accused claimed those medicines to be life-saving cancer drugs priced between Rs. 1 and Rs. 3 lakh per vial.
As per police reports, over a period of two years, more than 7,000 fraudulent injections were sold by the accused.
The alleged mastermind of the operation, Viphil Jain, oversaw the production of the counterfeit medicines in two flats located in DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar, where the drugs were filled into vials by his associate, Suraj Shat, who is a former employee at medical stores.
While performing the raid, authorities seized three cap-sealing machines, a heat gun, and 197 empty vials, along with Rs. 50,000 and $1,000 in cash from the flats.
Another accused, Neeraj Chauhan, stored a substantial stock of counterfeit cancer injection vials in Gurugram. Law enforcement seized 519 empty bottles and 864 packaging boxes from his residence.
Previously, Neeraj was employed as an oncology department manager in various hospitals. He collaborated with Viphil in 2022 to use his knowledge of drugs to sell fake chemotherapy injections at competitive prices.
Tushar, who is Neeraj's cousin and a lab technician, was also involved in the scheme, along with Parvez, who is a former pharmacist at a cancer hospital. Parvez facilitated the procurement of empty vials for Viphil. Police had recovered 20 empty vials from Parvez.
Additionally, two employees of a Delhi-based cancer hospital, Komal Tiwari and Abhinay Kohli, were held for their involvement. Further investigations discovered that they supplied empty vials from the hospital to Viphil at Rs 5,000 each.
A case has been lodged against the seven men on charges including selling adulterated drugs, cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Komal Bhoi/MSM)