IIT graduate who supplied fake cancer medicine arrested in Bihar

New Delhi: A B.Tech graduate from IIT (BHU) Varanasi, suspected of having involved in supplying fake cancer chemotherapy medicine, has been arrested in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

This is the eighth arrest in the case a day after Delhi Police busted a racket that manufactured and sold the fake drug all over India, the US and China.

Police said that Aditya Krishna, 23, was arrested from his native city Muzaffarpur and brought to Delhi.

According to police, Aditya allegedly used to buy medicines from one of the accused and supply the same to Pune and the National Capital Region (NCR). He was also operating a chemist shop in Muzaffarpur.

Earlier on Tuesday, seven persons, including two employees of a reputed hospital, were arrested by police and an illegal unit manufacturing fake ‘life-saving’ cancer chemotherapy medicines was also busted.

A senior police official had said that they recovered spurious cancer medicines of seven international brands and two Indian brands worth Rs 4 crore from the illegal unit in the Moti Nagar area and three other locations.

The accused were identified as Viphil Jain, Suraj Shat, Neeraj Chauhan, Parvez, Komal Tiwari, Abhinay Kohli, and Tushar Chauhan.

Special Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Shalini Singh had said that simultaneous raids were conducted at four different locations in Delhi and Gurugram based on the information.

“The prime location for manufacturing spurious cancer medicines was DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar, where Jain, the mastermind of this operation, had taken two EWS flats to produce these medicines. Suraj Shat, another accused, managed the refilling and packaging of the vials,” she said.

During the raid, 140 filled vials of spurious cancer injections from brands like Opdyta, Keytruda, Dextrose, and Fluconazole were seized.

Additionally, cash amounting to Rs 50,000 and 1,000 US dollars, three cap sealing machines, a heat gun machine, and 197 empty vials along with other essential packaging materials were recovered.

“At South City, Gurugram, Haryana, Neeraj Chauhan hoarded a large cache of spurious cancer injections/vials,” the Special CP said.

During the raid, 137 vials of spurious cancer injections from brands like Keytruda, Infinzi, Tecentriq, Perjeta, Opdyta, Darzalex, and Erbitux, and 519 empty vials of similar brands along with cash totalling Rs 89 lakh and 18,000 US dollars were recovered.

“Neeraj’s cousin Tushar Chauhan, who was involved in the supply chain, was also apprehended,” she said.

“At Yamuna Vihar, the raid was aimed at nabbing Parvez, who arranged empty vials for Viphil Jain and was involved in supplying the refilled vials. Twenty empty vials were recovered from his possession,” she added.

“In another raid at a reputed cancer hospital in Delhi, two individuals, Komal Tiwari and Abhinay Kohli, working in the Cytotoxic Admixture Unit, were apprehended. They were supplying empty vials for Rs 5,000 each,” she said.

Jain, originally from Delhi, started his career as a medical store employee in Seelampur and gradually ventured into supplying medicines from wholesale markets to local stores.

“About three years ago, he conceived the idea of refilling spurious cancer injections, targeting expensive brands. He collaborated with Parvez for empty vials and Neeraj Chauhan for further supply. Shat assisted Jain in refilling vials at his rented flats in Moti Nagar,” said the Special CP.

Neeraj Chauhan, who previously worked as a manager in the Oncology Department of reputed hospitals, joined forces with Jain in 2022, leveraging his experience to provide fake chemotherapy injections at affordable rates.

“Parvez, an ex-pharmacist of a reputed cancer hospital, ran a pharmacy shop and supplied empty and filled vials to Jain. Tiwari and Kohli, employed at a reputed cancer hospital since 2013, facilitated the supply of empty and filled vials to Parvez,” said the Special CP.

“Tushar Chauhan, a laboratory technician, collaborated with Neeraj Chauhan to distribute fake medicines,” she added.

IANS with edits