‘Accused used to steal cancer drugs from their workplaces and sell them for a cut’

The total number of arrests in the case has now climbed to 12.  | Photo Credit: ANI

The police have arrested four more persons in connection with the manufacturing and supplying spurious ‘life-saving’ cancer and chemotherapy drugs. The total number of arrests in the case has now climbed to 12.

On Tuesday, seven members of the fake drug racket were arrested, including the kingpin, Neeraj Chauhan, 38. A day later, the police arrested Aditya Krishna, 23, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), in connection with the case.

The four accused, who were arrested from Delhi and Gurugram on Wednesday and Thursday, are accused of stealing chemotherapy drugs from the hospitals where they worked and selling them for a commission to Mr. Chauhan.

“We believe that the gang mixed some genuine medicines with fake ones to deceive their clients. An investigation is being carried out to find how members of the gang stole drugs from the departments where they worked,” said a senior officer.

The police have frozen 14 bank accounts in connection with the case and seized a total of ₹92.81 lakh. An officer said that the gang is estimated to have sold spurious chemotherapy drugs worth more than ₹25 crore over two years.

New arrests

Rohit Singh Bisht, 36, was arrested from Dwarka on Wednesday. He sold stolen vials of chemotherapy drugs Keytruda and Opdyta to Mr. Chauhan for ₹65,000 and ₹35,000, respectively. Mr. Bisht has a diploma in general nursing and 10 years of experience in the field.

Jitendra, 33, worked in a bone marrow transplant unit at an oncology department. He was caught red-handed by the police when he came to supply three vials of chemotherapy drugs to Mr. Chauhan. “These were drugs meant for patients at the hospital where he worked,” said a senior officer.

Majid Khan, 34, worked as a senior staff member at a chemotherapy daycare unit in Gurugram. Mr. Khan was paid a commission of ₹4,000-₹5,000 for each vial he stole from his workplace. He was arrested from his house in Jaipur on Thursday.

The fourth accused, Sajid, 33, worked at an oncology department of a Gurugram-based hospital. He has a diploma in general nursing and was arrested for supplying drugs to Mr. Majid.