Gujarat: 90 Remdesivir vials worth Rs. 5 lakh seized
Five persons were arrested on Wednesday in Gujarat with 90 Remdesivir injections worth Rs. 4.86 lakh which they were planning to sell in the black market, police officials said. Four of them were arrested from Vadodara, while the fifth one was nabbed from Anand Town. Remdesivir injections are in high demand to treat critical coronavirus patients after the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Biggest haul of Remdesivir injections recovered by Gujarat Police
"This was the biggest haul of Remdesivir injections recovered by the police in Gujarat from black marketeers so far," Shamsher Singh, Vadodara police commissioner said. "While 45 vials were recovered from four residents of Vadodara city, the remaining 45 injections were seized from the fifth accused, Jatin Patel, a native of neighboring Anand town," Singh told reporters in Vadodara.
Accused are into trading of pharmaceutical products
"The other accused were identified by the police as Rishi Jedhe, Vikas Patel, Pratik Panchal, and Manan Shah, all residents of Vadodara. All the five accused are into trading of pharmaceutical products," the police officer said.
The accused were arrested based on a tip-off
"Based on a tip-off, the Vadodara crime branch nabbed Jedhe as soon as he reached the Subhanpura area of the city to deliver Remdesivir injections to a person," said Singh. "We then nabbed the other four. In all, we recovered 90 vials worth Rs. 4.86 lakh (each costing Rs. 5,400) from the five persons," Singh added.
Accused have sold 300 vials for Rs. 20K each
"They were selling each vial for up to Rs. 20,000. They confessed to having sold around 300 injections till now and had planned to sell another 300 in the black market," Singh said. Singh said that the kingpin of the racket was Jatin Patel, who runs a pharmaceutical agency in Anand and used to procure Remdesivir from one Vivek Shah, who runs a pharmacy.
Police has also seized Rs. 2 lakh from the accused
According to The Indian Express, the police has also seized Rs. 2 lakh from the accused. An FIR is being lodged under Section 420 and Section 114 of IPC, Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and Disaster Management Act, 2005.
