Chennai, September 30 (Daily Kiran) : A significant breakthrough in the investigation of a fake drug racket occurred in Chennai, where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) apprehended Balasubramanian, a key suspect. His arrest brings the total number of arrests in this case to seven.
Authorities revealed that Balasubramanian’s capture followed interrogations of another main suspect, Prashant Ranjan. Ranjan provided crucial information about the network involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit medications.
This arrest was made based on leads uncovered during the ongoing investigation. After his court appearance, Balasubramanian was remanded into SIT custody for seven days for further questioning.
Identified as a pharma partner in Chennai, Balasubramanian was associated with the pharmaceutical company DM Pharma, where he allegedly played a pivotal role in the illicit drug operations. The SIT is actively interrogating suspects to gather more information about the network responsible for these counterfeit drugs.
Earlier, on Monday, the SIT had arrested Prashant Ranjan Babu at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru as he returned from Azerbaijan. Reports indicate that after the fake drug network was exposed, Ranjan fled to Azerbaijan but was tracked down by the investigation team. Under pressure from the SIT, he returned to India and was detained upon arrival.
The fake drug scandal in Bengaluru revealed a shocking operation involving counterfeit, expired, and relabeled life-saving medications, with a market value exceeding ₹5 crore. The SIT had previously arrested a local pharmacy owner and discovered that this illegal network supplied substandard drugs to over 90 hospitals and clinics.
Following the investigation, the SIT conducted raids across Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. The Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration has revoked 16 drug licenses and suspended eight others linked to this scandal, including a depot for Pfizer’s carrying and forwarding services.
Karnataka’s Health Minister U.T. Khader stated that the agency failed to cooperate with investigators or provide necessary reference standards for laboratory testing of the seized counterfeit drugs. Given that fake medications for cancer and serious illnesses were distributed, the health department is now working to identify affected patients and assess their health conditions.
The health department has urged the public to carefully examine labels for any suspicious packaging and report any unscannable QR codes directly to drug enforcement officials.
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