DEHRADUN: A special task force (STF) of Uttarakhand police claimed to have exposed a counterfeit drugs manufacturing racket on Sunday. The development came following overnight raids at counterfeit drug manufacturing factories in Haridwar and Saharanpur districts.
The STF action came after police received input about fake drugs being sold in the market. Based on the tip-off, the agency was working covertly for the past two months to identify the factories where illegal drugs were being manufactured. Till the time of filing this report, the STF investigation was going on with the help of Haridwar and Saharanpur police units.
Ajay Singh, senior superintendent of police, Uttarakhand STF, told TOI,
"The raids were planned after two people -- identified as Rashid Khan and Nitin Prajapati -- were arrested a couple of months ago with fake drugs worth Rs 4 lakh. During interrogation, they disclosed the locations of factories in Haridwar and Saharanpur where fake drugs were being manufactured. These drugs were packaged in wrappers of major pharmaceutical companies to avoid any suspicion," said Singh.
He added, "A factory named "Innova Drugs and Pharmaceutical Company" in Bhagwanpur (Haridwar) was shut down for the same crime earlier as well. However, their owners Vishal and Pankaj Kumar re-started the illegal activity. Besides the Bhagwanpur unit, a factory each at Laksar (Haridwar) and Saharanpur was also busted."
The STF head further said that during raids, police recovered fake drugs worth Rs 15 lakh along with raw materials to manufacture more fake drugs worth about Rs 1 crore. “A majority of the fake drugs being manufactured were antibiotics. The accused were supplying them across the country with the help of courier companies and private transporters,” added Singh.
