Enforcement agencies suspect that Bengaluru and its outlying areas are becoming a hub for the illegal manufacture of spurious drugs primarily used for the treatment of psychological conditions.
This comes in the wake of a recent haul of 170 kg of Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety agent, seized from factories in the industrial areas of Gauribidanur and Doddaballapur.
Investigators with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) undertook a raid after tailing a suspect, Jagannadha Raju, who was running a chemical manufacturing unit in Gauribidanur.
He was caught red-handed in Gandhinagar early this month while attempting to hand over 50 kg of Alprazolam that he was transporting in the boot of his car to a client.
“The buyer was one K. Sridhar from the Doddaballapur industrial area who ran a unit manufacturing chemical components.
However, he held a licence for the process for 2009 to 2010.
He was arrested soon after and was interrogated on why he wanted to procure Alprazolam illegally,” said an investigating officer.
A raid of Sridhar’s factory in Doddaballapur yielded 13.8 kg of ketamine illegally manufactured for delivery to an unknown client in Mumbai. Both Sridhar’s and Raju’s factories have been sealed by the DRI.
According to investigators, Raju has been running his unit since 2012 where he was illegally manufacturing Alprazolam.
“We strongly believe the chemical is being supplied to clients who are making spurious drugs to treat for anxiety, depression, panic disorder and other psychological conditions. We believe that Raju’s clients are producing spurious medicines and spreading them in the market as the real drug, possibly through medical shops in Karnataka,” said a senior DRI officer.
He deemed the situation grave, and called it one that required immediately attention from the State Drug Control body.
The DRI suspects that his clients are not limited to Karnataka but are spread across the country. They have already identified one of his key clients, G. Gopal Reddy from Medak in Telangana.
“Following interrogation of Raju, we rushed to apprehend Gopal Reddy in Telangana, but he managed to slip away. We discovered 89 kg of Alprazolam concealed in his house, which we have seized,” said a DRI officer. “It is a cause for concern that a dealer from Telangana and Andhra region, notorious for manufacturing spurious drugs, has sought chemicals from a manufacturer in Gauribidanur, Karnataka,” the officer added. Investigators have launched a massive hunt for Reddy, whom they suspect could reveal more names of dealers involved in this illegal trade.
More illegal chemical units?
The DRI authorities in Bengaluru suspect that some industrial unit owners in Karnataka could be involved in the illegal production of chemicals, which is extremely lucrative, for making of spurious drugs possibly circulated across the State.
“Jagannadha Raju and Sridhar who claim they are budding businessmen in the illegal chemical trade in Karnataka have revealed some names and identities of other manufacturing units operating. We are probing further on the information and believe the recent seizure is only the tip of the iceberg,” added the DRI official.
