SRINAGAR: A special TADA court in Kashmir has issued a non-bailable warrant against 15 people involved in the spurious drug scam in Kashmir.
The accused include owners of Medley Pharmaceuticals and Affy Parenterals – Maharashtra and Himachal based pharmaceutical companies – besides Lifeline Pharmaco Surgical, drug suppliers based in Jammu.
Advocate Musavir Joo, who represents the Drug and Food Control Organisation, told Freepress “The special TADA court has asked the concerned Senior Superintendents of Police to produce the accused in the court by May 27.”
Lab tests had found that antibiotic Maximizen-625 tablets, supposed to contain 500mg of Amoxicillin, had zero percent of it. Tens of thousands of these tablets were used in valley hospitals to ‘cure’ bacterial infection.
The authorities had placed the order for these drugs with Lifeline Pharmaco. Two of its owners have already been arrested by the crime branch.
Affy Parenterals, one of the companies believed to have manufactured the counterfeit drug, denied its role in the scandal saying its name was faked.
But Advocate Joo said the chargesheet was based on the findings of the investigation team of the government sent to Himachal Pradesh to find out who supplied the fake medicine.
“We have checked their bank records of the companies. Based on that we believe that they are involved in the scandal,” Joo said.
The spurious drug scam has caused concern in the valley. Dr. Nisar-ul-Hasan of the Doctor’s Association of Kashmir said the fake medicine could have caused hundreds of deaths in the past two years.
The authorities have formed a high-level committee to oversee the probe.
On Tuesday, a team of the Union health ministry also reached the valley to monitor the developments.
