The Karnataka government has formed a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the racket, while officials are also examining possible interstate links and the alleged role of medical representatives in distributing the medicines.
How the racket was uncovered
The investigation began after officials from the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department and the Food Safety and Drugs Administration raided a farmhouse in the Bidadi and Dodderi areas of Bengaluru South on August 18.
The operation led to the seizure of suspected counterfeit and expired medicines valued at around ₹5 crore. Officials also recovered fake invoices, counterfeit labels and equipment allegedly used to fill injections.
Following the raid, authorities conducted coordinated searches at various locations across Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra as investigators looked for evidence of an interstate supply network.
Fake cancer drugs at 50% discount
Investigators suspect that the network targeted critical medicines, including cancer drugs and ICU injections, and allegedly supplied them to hospitals, clinics and medical shops at discounts of nearly 50 per cent.
According to the preliminary investigation, medicines bought at low prices were allegedly rebranded and sold under different names. Authorities also suspect that expired medicines were repackaged in fresh containers and fitted with counterfeit labels resembling those of established pharmaceutical companies.
The process likely involved:
- Procuring medicines at low prices from pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs
- Repackaging or relabelling medicines, including allegedly expired products
- Storing the suspected counterfeit medicines at a pharmacy before distribution
- Supplying them to hospitals, clinics and medical retailers at heavily discounted rates
Pharmacy owner arrested
The probe subsequently led investigators to Krupa Healthcare near Minerva Circle in Bengaluru, which is suspected to have been used as a storage and distribution point.
Pharmacy owner Veeresh Kumar Jain has been arrested in connection with the case, The Indian Express reported. Police suspect that he had been running the firm for around five years and are also probing his alleged links with Prashant, a medical representative who has been identified as a key accused.
Karnataka steps up probe with SIT
The Karnataka government constituted a six-member SIT headed by C Vamsi Krishna, Joint Commissioner of Police (West), Bengaluru City, following the Bidadi raid. The team includes officials from the Food Safety and Drugs Administration and Commercial Taxes departments.
Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader had also written to Union Health Minister JP Nadda seeking support from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and other central agencies to trace the suspected supply chain.
The SIT will now investigate the wider supply network and determine how the suspected counterfeit medicines reached hospitals and clinics.
