Man held on charge of illegally selling remdesivir in Panchkula, 18 vials recovered

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, April 19

A joint team of the Drug Control Department and the police nabbed a Bahadurgarh resident, at present staying in Dera Bassi, for illegally selling antiviral remdesivir injections at an exorbitant price. The injection is in great demand for the treatment of Covid-19 patients amid a sharp rise in cases.

The suspect, Shiv Kumar, was selling a Rs 3,490 Covifor injection to customers for Rs13,000 per vial. At least 18 remdesivir injections were also recovered from the suspect.

On April 18, Inspector Aman Kumar, in-charge of the Sector 26 crime branch, had informed the drug control officer that the suspect had been selling remdesivir injections illegally in Panchkula after receiving a tip-off.

A team comprising Inspector Aman Kumar, Panchkula Drug Control Officer Parveen Kumar, Head Constable Pardeep Kumar, Head Constable Ramesh Kumar and EHC Suresh Kumar was constituted. A police official, who agreed to become a decoy customer, contacted Shiv Kumar and demanded remdesivir.

He called the decoy to meet him behind a mobile showroom in Sector 11.

After turning up at the spot, Shiv Kumar handed over a remdesivir injection to the decoy and sought Rs13,000 from him. The decoy immediately sent a signal to the joint team, which nabbed him from the spot. The team then searched a car belonging to Shiv Kumar and recovered 17 remdesivir injections kept on the front passenger seat.

The suspect was asked to submit a copy of the purchase record and the drug sale licence required to procure, stock and sell. However, he failed to do so. He was subsequently questioned about his source of the injections. The suspect allegedly told the joint team that he had procured these drugs from Sudhir Kumar from his office in Sector 11. He then informed that of the 30 injections he procured from Sudhir, he had already sold 12 to three persons. The team then rushed to Sudhir’s office, which was found locked.

The caretaker of the property called Sudhir’s peon Ravi, who reached there and opened the premises. However, no stock of remdesivir injection was recovered from the premises.

A case against Shiv Kumar, Sudhir Kumar and others was filed under Sections 27(b)(ii), 28 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Section 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC at the Sector 5 police station.

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