Check that medicine again: Probe reveals how fake companies are flooding market with ineffective tablets with no active pharmaceutical ingredient

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Investigations into the multi-crore spurious drug racket - where fake medicines worth R185 crore were seized in Thane over last few months - have revealed a shocking fact: medicines supplied to government hospitals in Nagpur lacked Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), the key component that makes medicines effective. Without API, these drugs cannot cure patients. However, Food and Drug Authority (FDA) labs only screen for API and do not analyse other ingredients, FDA officials citied workload constraints as the reason behind it.

Anil Mhaske, deputy superintendent of police, Saoner Division, Nagpur (Rural). Pics/Nagpur rural police

Last year, a raid at an animal feed factory in Haridwar uncovered raw materials like talcum powder, starch, magnesium, and calcium - believed to be used in manufacturing these spurious drugs. While typically harmless as excipients in genuine medicines, their impact in fake tablets remains unknown.

Flash back

The racket, busted by Nagpur (Rural) police, supplied counterfeit medicines to hospitals in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand using forged documents like Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certificates and fake GST bills. These fake drugs were distributed to civic hospitals and wholesalers in Bhiwandi, Thane, Nanded, and other areas since 2021.

Cabhis Generic House in Mira Road. Pics/Nagpur rural police

Anil Mhaske, deputy superintendent of police, Saoner Division, Nagpur (Rural), said, "In 2022, FDA drug inspectors collected samples from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Bhiwandi, which tested spurious as the drug ‘Formox 250' lacked API. A case was registered, and the mastermind, Vijay Shailendra Chaudhary, 32, was arrested. He claimed to have sourced the fake drugs from Kanpur but later jumped bail, stalling the probe."

Discovery of scam

Case 1

In August 2023, Drug Inspector Nitin Bhandarkar of FDA Nagpur collected samples of Reclav-625 (an antibiotic containing Amoxicillin and Potassium Clavulanate) from Government Medical College Hospital, Nagpur, which provides free treatment to over 2,500 underprivileged patients daily. The FDA Mumbai lab found the tablets lacked API, with the report issued in August 2024.

Case 2

In February 2023, Bhandarkar's team collected samples of Recip-500 (Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride) from the Rural Tehsil Hospital in Kalmeshwar, Nagpur. A December 2023 FDA lab report confirmed the tablets contained no API. Investigations revealed the civil surgeon, Nagpur, had floated tenders through the Gem Portal to procure these emergency drugs.

Before test results, 77,000 Reclav-625 tablets and 4 lakh Recip-500 tablets had been distributed across hospitals, with 55,000 Recip-500 tablets given to Government Medical College Hospital patients. After confirmation of spurious drugs, 22,000 Recip-500 tablets were seized by Bhandarkar's team.

(Left) Vijay Shailendra Choudhary along with Raman Taneja

Common thread

"It was during the inquiry in Case 1 that we found M/s Vishal Enterprises, Kolhapur, had won the tender and supplied Reclav-625 tablets," said FDA Drug Inspector Nitin Bhandarkar. "They sourced the drugs from M/s Pharmacis Biotech, Surat, which procured them from M/s Activentis Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Narpoli, Bhiwandi, owned by Mihir Trivedi. Trivedi, in turn, had bought the tablets from Cabhis Generic House, Mira Road," he added.

Similarly, in Case 2, the tender for Ciprofloxacin-500 tablets (Recip-500) was won by M/s Jaya Enterprises, Latur. "They procured the tablets from Activentis Biotech, which sourced them from Cabhis Generic House, owned by Vijay Choudhary, 32, who was earlier arrested in a similar case," Bhandarkar explained.

The investigation team being felicitated

Nonexistent pharma companies

The investigation revealed that the pharma companies printed on the drug boxes were fake. Reclav-625 was falsely labelled as manufactured by M/s Mrystal Formulations, Kotdwar, Uttarakhand, and Recip-500 by M/s Refant Pharma Pvt. Ltd., MIDC, Kerala. "Both companies and addresses were bogus, and batch numbers on the packaging were fake," said senior FDA officials.

Mandatory documents, including GMP, COA, and GST bills, were also forged.

Bhandarkar registered two FIRs against the accused for supplying spurious medicines using fake documents: one with Ajni police station (Case 1) and another with Kalmeshwar Rural police station (Case 2). Fresh FIRs have also been lodged in Thane, Nagpur, Nanded, and Wardha for similar offences, including fresh cases registered two weeks ago in AmbeJogai in Beed District, and Dhrasiv district (earlier Osmanabad).

Special police team

Realising the gravity of the case, SP Harshh Poddar (Nagpur Rural) transferred the investigation to DySP Anil Mhaske and his team.

"Vijay Choudhary of Mira Road initially misled us, claiming he procured medicines online through Gagan Singh, owner of M/s K P Medical Agency in Haryana," said DySP Mhaske.

To prove his point, Choudhary filed a police complaint with the Mira-Bhayandar police, against Gagan Singh for not returning to him the Rs 4 lakh that the latter owed him. He also produced GST paid bills for procuring the medicines from M/s K P Medical agency.

"However, our team found the address to be fake, and Choudhary's claims were disproven. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected, and he was taken into custody," he added.

In police custody

During interrogation, Choudhary revealed he had sourced fake medicines from Saharanpur-based brothers Robin and Raman Taneja, who were later arrested. The Tanejas admitted to procuring drugs from Amit Dhiman, owner of M/s Dwarika Natural Formulations, Haridwar. Dhiman's unit, which produced animal feed and spurious medicines, was raided in August 2023, and large quantities of raw materials were seized. Dhiman remains in custody of Haridwar Police and is presently lodged in Central Jail, Haridwar.

Syndicate's operations

"The accused manufactured fake medicines like Ciprofloxacin, Amoxicillin, and Azithromycin under bogus pharma brands such as M/s Evertouch Bio Remedies and M/s Refant Pharma," Mhaske said. "They cheated the public and endangered lives for financial gain."

A 1,200-page chargesheet was filed recently. "We traced a money trail of over R4 crore, and the hawala route cannot be ruled out. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been informed to probe further," Mhaske added.

Challenges faced

Mhaske noted the difficulty in pursuing the case due to lenient punishment under IPC Section 276, making it bailable. "We overcame this by proving the accused used forged GMP, COA, and GST documents, enabling us to charge them under IPC Sections 467 and 468 for forgery, which carry severe penalties," he explained.

Another challenge was Choudhary's evasive replies and the lack of initial cyber forensic efforts. "We retrieved crucial data from his devices with help from cyber police and tech companies, which helped us connect the dots," Mhaske said.

What next

The probe has now focused on district civil surgeons and hospital pharmacists to determine their involvement.

Nagpur (Rural) police, who have already arrested six people, are preparing a second chargesheet. This will include forensic audits, analysis of seized devices, and the drug inspector's report to file charges under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which could raise the punishment to 10 years or more, said DySP Anil Mhaske.

"We have managed to retrieve some of the documents that the accused tried to destroy and fresh evidence is getting collected in similar cases, reported from Kolhapur. So far ten to eleven FIRs are registered against the accused, at different police stations, across Maharashtra, and the mastermind in all these cases is Vijay Choudhary, Mihir Trivedi, Raman Taneja and Robin. As they are involved in multiple cases, we are also contemplating applying MCOCA, in future against the accused," said DY SP Mhaske, speaking to midday yesterday (December 29).

Statement to cops

Amit Sureshchandra Dhiman, 37

Residence: Matalpur, Roorkee, Haridwar

Dhiman admitted to manufacturing spurious medicines at his factory, M/s Dwarika Natural Formulations, Haridwar. He initially made animal feed supplements but later agreed to produce fake medicines, including Azhitro 500 tablets, on orders from Robin alias Himanshu Taneja. He procured raw materials and packaging locally and used his factory machinery for production.

Vijay Shailendra Choudhary, 32

Residence: Mira Road, Mumbai

Choudhary owns Cabhis Generic Home Pharmaceuticals. He sourced medicines from Robin, paid via angadias or online transfers, and supplied them to retailers and companies like M/s Activentis Biotech Pvt. Ltd. He also received forged GMP and COA documents from Robin to supply Ciprofloxacin Recip 500 tablets to government hospitals.

Raman Kumar Taneja, 36

Residence: Saharanpur, UP

Raman confessed to helping his elder brother Robin in supplying spurious medicines. Robin sourced the drugs and handled sales, while Raman occasionally assisted. He revealed that Vijay Choudhary and his father visited their home and transferred money to their family accounts. Raman denied direct knowledge of Robin's suppliers but was aware of police raids on other accused.