Bengaluru: A racket involving spurious drugs allegedly carrying labels of multinational pharmaceutical companies has been unearthed in Ramanagara district, with drugs worth over Rs 5 crore seized, Health Minister U.T. Khader said on Wednesday. Seeking an interstate probe, Khader said initial investigation has revealed possible links to fake drug manufacturing units operating in other parts of the country.

The racket came to light after beat police personnel alerted the authorities on Tuesday evening. Acting swiftly on the information, officials from the Drug Control Department and the Commissionerate of Food Safety and Drug Administration conducted a raid at a farmhouse in Bidadi, where the spurious drugs were allegedly stored and repacked before being supplied to pharmaceutical outlets and hospitals.

One person, identified as Prabhudev, has been arrested in connection with the case. Ramanagara Superintendent of Police is currently conducting the investigation.

Khader said preliminary investigation has revealed possible links to fake drug manufacturing units operating in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the country.

The accused allegedly procure drugs at very low prices and relabel them using the names and labels of multinational pharmaceutical companies before supplying them to hospitals and medical outlets.

“Even tablets used in ICUs are being faked and labelled with multinational companies’ names. If an injection costs Rs 20,000, they supply it for Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 to hospitals,” Khader said, describing the racket as a serious issue that extends beyond Karnataka.

The minister said the premises where the drugs were stored was operating without a valid licence. Officials are also investigating whether labels and stickers used on the spurious medicines were manufactured locally or procured from other sources.

“We suspect that the accused may have procured labels and stickers from hospitals and used them for fake drugs,” Khader said.

According to the minister, the suspected racket has several layers, including the procurement of raw materials and medicines, logistics, repackaging, distribution and supply to hospitals and medical shops. Authorities are now trying to identify the middlemen involved and the hospitals and outlets that may have received the spurious medicines.

Khader said the main accused, identified as Prashanth, is believed to be based in Dubai, while Tejas has been identified as the person operating on the ground. Prabhudev has been arrested and is being questioned to establish the entire supply chain.

The minister said the case cannot be treated as a Karnataka-only issue as the suspected network involves multiple states and an accused allegedly based outside the country. He called for a coordinated investigation involving the state and Central governments.

“I have already spoken to the Union Health Minister and the Home Ministry. The Health and Home departments should have a joint team to investigate the matter,” Khader said.

He said he would also discuss the matter with Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge and seek the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the interstate and international links.

Khader said authorities need to establish where the spurious drugs originated, who provided logistical support, how the medicines reached Karnataka, who acted as intermediaries and which hospitals and medical shops purchased them.

He also warned that establishments procuring medicines at unusually low prices could come under scrutiny as part of the investigation.

The minister said the Drug Control Department has a database containing details of more than 12 lakh medicines and that authorities routinely identify and ban spurious drugs when they enter the market.

Khader praised the officials who conducted the raid and said the government would consider rewarding personnel involved in uncovering the racket.

“This is not limited to Karnataka. Such factories may be operating across the country. We need a separate and coordinated investigation considering the logistics, supply chain and consumers,” he said.

Officials have so far seized spurious medicines worth more than Rs 5 crore. Further details are expected as the Ramanagara police investigation progresses.

Kolkata, Aug 19: Kolkata Police, on Wednesday, announced the formation of a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the fire incident at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata, which claimed nine lives, including two women and a child.

Informing the media persons, Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Kolkata Police Kunal Agarwal said the SIT will be headed by a Deputy Commissioner-rank officer, who is currently attached to the detective department of the city police.

Already, the local New Market Police station, under whose jurisdiction the said hotel building comes, has registered a suo motu case in the matter. A separate complaint had also been launched in the matter by the state fire services department.

The police, however, have not yet disclosed the identity of the nine persons killed in the fire incident.

Mirza Ghalib Street area has several cheap hotels, accommodating people coming as tourists from other states and even other countries. Since a major section of those staying in these hotels are from neighbouring Bangladesh coming to Kolkata for medical tourism, there is a possibility that Bangladeshis may be among those nine persons who have been killed in the fire.

State Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul, who visited the spot of the fire, blamed the previous Trinamool Congress regime and the private power generation-cum-distribution entity, CESC Limited, for the mishap.

“How could the fire services department give permission to run the hotel without a minimum fire safety arrangement in place? How could CESC Limited give electricity connection? What were the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Authorities doing? All of them should be accounted for,” said Paul.

She also questioned how multiple hotels and guest houses were operating from a single building. “Many rooms were fitted with AC machines? How could CESC Limited permit that? How could the previous Trinamool Congress-run board in KMC grant them the trade license? All these factors will be looked into,” said Paul.

Meanwhile, the owner of the building as well as the owners of the hotels and guest houses run from that building have remained incommunicado since the fire broke out early this morning.

The building caretakers and the staff of the hotels and guest houses there have claimed that the respective owners have either switched off their mobiles or were not answering their calls since this morning.

Initial findings by the police and the West Bengal Fire Services Department have revealed that the nine people, including two women and a child, killed in the fire incident at the hotel this morning died of suffocation rather than burn injuries

Lucknow, Aug 19: As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several locations linked to senior Samajwadi Party (SP) jailed leader Azam Khan on Wednesday, the party criticised the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, stating that it has “nothing left” to offer the public, and hence is resorting to “harassing” people associated with the previous governments.

This came as the ED carried out searches in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur and Saharanpur and Delhi in connection with Azam Khan on Wednesday. Ten locations, including the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University and its trust, were searched as part of the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Speaking to media, SP spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party engages in vindictive politics. It has nothing of its own to offer. Whenever it comes to power, it pursues vindictive politics against previous governments.”

He accused the State government of lacking original ideas for public welfare and destroying the schemes that were introduced by SP National President Akhilesh Yadav when he was the Chief Minister.

“Look at Uttar Pradesh; no major work has been done in the last 11 years. They are replacing plaques at Samajwadi Party projects and putting the BJP’s name on them, harassing Azam Khan in Rampur, and destroying Akhilesh Yadav’s schemes,” he said.

“The BJP has nothing left to offer the country, which is why it is harassing people associated with previous governments,” the SP spokesperson stated.

According to the officials, the raids are aimed at tracing proceeds of crime, along with digital evidence, documents, and financial records connected to the diversion and utilisation of government funds.

Uttar Pradesh Congress also criticised the ED raids and claimed that this was being done to target the jailed SP leader.

Speaking to media, UP Congress President Ajay Rai said, “It is done to target and weaken Azam Khan.”

Azam Khan is currently serving a sentence in Rampur Jail alongside his son, Abdullah Azam.

The controversy over Jauhar University erupted after the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) flagged multiple violations inside the varsity, claiming that 38 out of 40 buildings were made without necessary approvals. The RDA had also asked the university to remove them on its own within a time frame, failing which the district administration will step in to raze them.

The order to demolish 38 buildings at Jauhar University caused a political upheaval. In late July, the Uttar Pradesh government’s Divisional Commissioner stayed, for now, the demolition order issued against 38 campus buildings by the District Magistrate of Rampur.

While the Samajwadi Party openly entered the political battle over the issue, uncertainty surrounding the future of Jauhar University continues.