Four held for black marketing of tocilizumab in Gujarat

Four persons were arrested in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in black marketing of tocilizumab, which is used for treating critically ill COVID-19 patients, police said.

The accused were arrested in connection with a racket that was busted by the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) in June, said an official from Umra police station in Surat, where an FIR was lodged against them on July 19.

The Surat police apprehended Ghanshyam Vyas, a contractor at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Amit Menchharamani, Abhishek Tikamani and Bhavesh Solanki, all from Ahmedabad, he said.

The FDCA's probe had revealed that the accused were involved in selling tocilizumab injections at inflated costs in the black market, after procuring the medicine using fake documents.

The FDCA had busted the racket by sending a dummy buyer to Sarthak Pharma in Surat on June 19, where the owner Uma Kejriwal, sold him three injections for Rs 57,000 each, as against the MRP of Rs 40,545.

The police had earlier arrested Mitul Shah from Surat, who had procured the injections from Vyas for Kejriwal.

According to the police, Vyas had supplied three injections to Shah for Rs 1.5 lakh, which Kejriwal later sold for Rs 57,000 apiece.

The four accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, apart from provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Essential Commodities Act.

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