A 46-year-old man and his driver was arrested for allegedly selling anti-fungal drug Amphotericin, used for treatment of mucormycosis, at an exorbitant rate, the police said on Monday.
The suspect, Rajnish Shrivastava, whose firm ‘AmbuSmith Inc.’ deals in trading of medical equipments and ambulance modification, brought these injections from Lucknow and sold them in Delhi at a higher price. His driver, Murtaza Khan (36), also helped him in this business, the police said.
In a complaint at Saket police station, two students stated that while they were trying to arrange Amphotericin-B for a patient, they came in contact with Shrivastava, who was selling it at ₹11,300 per injection, about 36 times the MRP.
The complainants, who are members of a WhatsApp group that helps in arranging medicines for patients suffering from COVID-19 and black fungus, informed the police that Shrivastava had agreed to deliver 20 injections for ₹2.26 lakh.
A police team waited near Max Hospital at Saket and 2 p.m. The accused called the complainants at Hauz Rani traffic signal near the hospital for delivery of the injections, DCP (South) Atul Thakur said.
The accused tried to escape but the team apprehended them, the DCP said. Twenty injections were recovered from their car and an investigation is on to ascertain the source of the drug, the officer added.