New Delhi, March 15 (IANS): Delhi Police have arrested four more persons working with reputed hospitals in the national capital and Gurugram in connection with the sale of fake 'life saving' cancer drugs.
The accused were identified as Rohit Singh Bisht (36), a resident of New Moti Nagar, Jitendra (33), Majid Khan (34) and Sajid (33), all residents of Gurugram.
Earlier, eight persons, including two employees of a reputed hospital and a B-tech graduate from IIT Varanasi, were arrested by police and an illegal unit involved in manufacturing fake life-saving cancer chemotherapy medicines was also busted.
The eight accused were identified as Viphil Jain, Suraj Shat, Neeraj Chauhan, Parvez, Komal Tiwari, Abhinay Kohli, Aditya Krishna (23), and Tushar Chauhan.
Special Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Shalini Singh stated that during further interrogation and from conversations, it was revealed that the accused Neeraj Chauhan was purchasing filled vials, purportedly original, from hospital employees.
"Rohit, who was employed as a day care in charge in the Chemotherapy Unit of a reputable hospital in Delhi, was supplying filled Keytruda/Opdyta vials to Neeraj. He salvaged the vials from patient doses and sold them to Neeraj. He received Rs 65,000 for Keytruda and Rs 35,000 for Opdyta," said Shalini Singh.
Another accused, Jitendra, who worked in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of the Oncology Department in a reputable hospital in Gurugram, was apprehended red-handed while attempting to supply three filled vials of Keytruda and Opdypta to Neeraj.
"He salvaged the vials from patient doses and sold them to Neeraj. He received Rs 60,000 for Keytruda and Rs 30,000 for Opdyta. Another accused, Majid, who was employed as a Senior Staff Nurse in the Chemo Day Care Unit of a reputable hospital in Sector 55, Gurugram until September 2023, recently joined a hospital in Patna and returned to Delhi after one week," said Shalini Singh.
Majid was apprehended on Thursday in Jaipur, and during a search of his residence, three filled Keytruda vials were recovered. He revealed that he used to obtain empty and filled vials from Sajid.
“Majid received Rs 60,000 for Keytruda and Rs 30,000 for Opdyta for filled vials, and Rs 5,000 for empty vials. Sajid, who worked in the Oncology Department of another reputable hospital in Gurugram as nursing staff, supplied Keytruda and Opdyta to Majid," said the Special CP.
Sajid was apprehended at his residence on Friday, and during a search, three empty vials with boxes and two Opdyta packaging were recovered. He received Rs 55,000 for Keytruda and Rs 25,000 for Opdyta.
"To trace the money trail, 14 bank accounts of the accused with a balance of Rs 92.81 lakh have been frozen," said the Special CP.
According to police, 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.
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 Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch).
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.