Odisha Police special team visits Gaya in Bihar to probe fake anti-hypertension drugs case

Cuttack: A special team of the Commissionerate Police has been sent to Gaya in Bihar as part of the investigation into the sale of spurious anti-hypertension drugs in Odisha.

“A four-member team of the Commissionerate Police led by Purighat police inspector has been sent to Gaya as part of our investigation into the spurious drugs case. The team has two experts,” said Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pinak Mishra.

During investigation, the Commissionerate Police came to know that medicine wholesalers VR Drug Agencies and Puja Enterprises of Cuttack had procured the fake drugs for treatment of high blood pressure from Gaya in Bihar and Bangalore in Karnataka, Mishra added.

“We are trying our best to reach the very root of this fake drugs trade. We are trying to find out the manufacturers of the spurious drugs. Our officials are looking into all angles of the case and all those involved in the trade would be brought under the purview of our investigation,” said the DCP.

The Commissionerate Police had earlier arrested two persons—Sanjay Jalan and Rahul Kyal—in connection with the spurious drugs trade.

Notably, the Drug Control Administration had raided several drugstores in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and other places amid reports of sale of spurious drugs for treatment high blood pressure.

As per the allegations, counterfeit drugs in the brand names of popular anti-hypertension drugs—Telma-40 and Telma-AM—had been sent to around 1,000 drugstores in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Balasore and several other places in the state.

Subsequently, the Directorate of Drugs Control Odisha had directed immediate recall of the two particular drugs from the market.

Pharmaceutical major Glenmark has clarified that it had not manufactured the anti-hypertension drugs—Telma-40 and Telma-AM—seized from several drugstores in Odisha.