Special squad hunts down Covid-19 crooks across Maharashtra

Amid the shortage at pharmacies, the special squad keeps tabs on social media posts. Representation pic/iStock

Taking cognisance of the black marketing of the drugs, remdesivir and tocilizumab, the Maharashtra police recently formed a special squad specifically to track such cases. According to Maharashtra police, so far, 54 cases have been registered and over 100 people have been arrested. mid-day has been extensively reporting on the issue. In one of the cases found by the police, the accused was collecting empty vials of remdesivir from medical waste piles at hospitals and filling them with fake drugs.

The special squad mainly keeps tabs on social media posts where thousands of patients share details such as their prescriptions for remdesivir and tocilizumab. "Accused people were found selling remdesivir in black market by charging 400 or 500 times than the actual price," an officer said.

"People arranging the drugs for their patients do not inform the police as their priority to save their relative's life and end up agreeing to pay whatever is demanded," the officer added.

The special squad is also keeping tabs on suppliers, medical stores and getting human intelligence about black marketing and acting on tip-offs. "We are getting information about the storage of these drugs and multiple raids were conducted and many were questioned based on inputs. So far we have not been able to track any huge illegal storage facility in Maharashtra," the officer added.

"A lot of complaints were coming in and we acted promptly after mid-day published a story on how the black marketers are making money by selling anti-viral medicines at inflated prices amid a global health crisis. We have registered a number of cases and our drive will continue to book black marketers," said a senior IPS officer.

Earlier, the police used to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to unearth the illegal sale of medicines but since the black marketing of these drugs has risen significantly amid the second wave, they formed their own team.

Shocking malpractices

The police have noticed that most of the black marketing is taking place in rural areas where the struggle to get the drugs is especially hard. People are even being sold fake medicines. "In Pune rural, in a case in Baramati Taluka, police busted a manufacturing unit producing fake remdesivir injections by using empty vials discarded by hospitals. Six injections were seized from the unit and six people were arrested," a senior IPS officer said.

In another case in Pune rural, police found that remdesivir injection was sold by unauthorised sellers. Seven people were arrested in the case. Similar cases were found in Kolhapur and Sangali as well.

Of the 54 cases registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code across Maharashtra, 10 are registered in Pune, 11 in Nagpur, four in Aurangabad, three cases each in Pune rural, Jalgaon and Navi Mumbai, and two cases each in Mira Bhayandar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ahmednagar, Latur, Bhandara and Akola and one case each in Nashik, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nandurbar, Beed, Nanded, Parbhani and Gondiya.

10
No. of cases police have registered against black marketeers and unauthorised sellers in Pune

11
No. of cases registered against black marketeers in Nagpur