Aryan Grover
The rural police of Pune has arrested four persons from Baramati after allegations were levelled against them for selling Paracetamol liquids inside vials of the Remdesivir injection for prices as high as Rs. 35,000 to COVID-19 patients.
This comes at a time when there is an acute shortage of such vials because of the worsening situation in the country given the second wave of the pandemic.
The four accused have been identified as Dilip Dnyandev Gaikwad (35) and Shankar Dada Bhise, residents of Katewadi in Baramati, Prashant Siddheshwar Gharat (23) of Indapur, and Sandip Sanjay Gaikwad (20) of Bhigwan.
An offence was made out against the accused under IPC sections 420 and 34, sections of the Drugs (Price Control) Order 2013, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Essential Commodities Act 1955.
After a tip was received by the police about persons selling Remdesivir injections at high prices, a decoy customer was sent to the accused. The accused then offered a single Remdesivir injection vial for Rs. 35,000, following which the customer placed an order for two such vials. The Police, with the assistance of an FDA officer, laid out a trap to nab the accused and his aide.
From the possession of the accused, two Remdesivir injection vials were discovered. Police teams led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Shirgaonkar and Inspector Mahesh Dhawan subsequently arrested the prime accused Dilip Gaikwad, who is in the business of mediclaims. Sandip Gaikwad, who has worked with a few hospitals till date, was also arrested, and another vial of the Remdesivir injection was recovered.
With investigation, it was discovered that the vials were tampered with and carried holes. A probe then revealed that accused Sandip was responsible for filling Paracetmaol liquids in the empty vials which were handed over to Dilip, who sold them at high prices to others with the help of the other two accused.