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Fake drugs racket busted

Staff Reporter

10-year-old drugs, worth 1 crore, seized

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa police have busted a 10-year-old fake medicine-manufacturing racket at Kantabanji town in Bolangir district. The spurious drugs, manufactured at the illegal unit, were in distribution in at least five western Orissa districts.

After busting the racket on Friday, the Bolangir district police on Saturday issued warnings to all medicine shops to stop the selling of ‘spurious drugs’ supplied by the manufacturing unit. Raids were being conducted on medicine shops in districts of Bolangir, Bargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Sonepur, simultaneously.

Bolangir police had arrested the fake medicine manufacturer Shankarlal Agarwal, a resident of Kantabanji town.

Sources said, the worth of seized drugs would be around Rs. 1 crore. "Agarwal was operating in the name of Brajesh Medical Agencies and supplying spurious tablets and syrups to medicines shops in five districts. He had a full-fledged mini-plant to produce the fake medicines," said Eshwar Kumar Panigrahi, Inspector-In-Charge of Kantabanji police station.

The accused used to pick up waste bottles from rag pickers and wash them in un-hygienic condition in the manufacturing unit, Mr. Panigrahi said.

Further, Agarwal printed stickers of branded medicine companies based at Kolkata and prepared strips and bottles that resembled the original ones. He made tablets mainly for pain-relief and fever. The police inspector said, Agarwal had no license to manufacture any medicine. Police had detained two labourers who were in Agarwal’s plant.

"We will be transporting three truck loads of medicines and apparatus from the unit. We are also investigating into his links in and outside the state," Mr. Panigrahi said.

Police claimed that Agarwal had confessed that he supplied spurious medicines to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as well.

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