Haridwar: A detailed 1,200-page charge sheet filed by rural police on September 20 has exposed shocking information regarding the supply of fake antibiotics to government hospitals. These so-called antibiotics were nothing but talcum powder and starch combined in a veterinary medicine lab in Haridwar. The healthcare system has been shocked by this revelation.
Huge sums of money were transferred through hawala channels by the racketeers behind the operation, in addition to the disturbing supply of fake drugs. Millions of rupees were transferred from Mumbai to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in order to purchase counterfeit medications. Hospitals in multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, received these counterfeit medications subsequently.
The case came to light in December of last year when drug inspector Nitin Bhandarkar found that the antibiotics being supplied to the rural hospital in Kalmeshwar were fake. After that, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed a complaint against the distributors and suppliers, which led the civil surgeon’s office to put the involved companies on a blacklist. After the media reported on the FDA’s actions, the matter gained more attention.
Special Investigation Launched
In light of the case’s severity, IPS officer Anil Mhaske, posted to SDPO Saoner, was given the task of conducting the investigation by Rural SP Harssh A Poddar. Similar cases, involving the same racketeers, were registered throughout Maharashtra, including in Wardha, Nanded, and Thane.
Initially, the investigation resulted in the arrest of Hemant Muley, the person who had won the tender to provide medication to Nagpur’s government hospitals. Additional charges were filed against Vijay Chaudhury and Mihir Trivedi.
The police raided a location in Haryana after Chaudhury confessed during interrogation that a supplier named Gagansingh was involved. However, the police only found a salon instead of a drug manufacturing site. Chaudhury identified Raman Taneja and Robin Taneja, also known as Himanshu of Saharanpur, as key figures in the operation.
Links to Haridwar Laboratory
After a long investigation, the authorities found Amit Dhiman’s veterinary laboratory in Haridwar. Dhiman had already been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttarakhand and was already imprisoned. After more research, Dhiman was found to be involved in this case as well. Mhaske claims that transactions totaling crore were found in the bank records of the racketeers, indicating the scale of this illicit operation.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates