A day after the Vadodara Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) raided the premises of a company that was allegedly manufacturing “spurious” hand sanitisers and sent samples for forensic tests, the factory owner was arrested on Wednesday.
Methanol – a toxic chemical – was being used for manufacturing the sanitisers, police said. They identified the arrested person as Nitin Kotwani, a resident of Gorwa area.
On Tuesday, the PCB had raided the premises of AK Industries after a tip-off about “spurious” sanitisers being manufactured in the workshop. The PCB collected samples worth Rs 45.47 lakh from the premises and sent these for testing. “We received the report of the laboratory tests on Wednesday and the samples were found to contain methanol. We registered a case and seized the material from the premises,” said J J Patel, Police Inspector, PCB.
The police have seized a total of 8,025 litres of the spurious hand sanitiser in 14,741 containers packed under various brand names in sizes of 5 litres, 500 ml, 200 ml, 100 ml and 50 ml packaging. Police said the packaging included brand names such as LifeLine, Life Care and Magnum Doctor Plus. The police have also seized raw material containing methanol. The police said in a release, “The Department of Forensic and Toxicity at SSG hospital has suggested that methanol, if used as hand sanitiser, can cause serious damage to breathing, face, the toxicity of blood by absorption, skin damage, coma…”
The accused was booked under IPC section 274 for adulteration of drugs, 308 which provides for an Act that amounts to causing culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 420 for cheating, 468 for forgery for the purpose of cheating, 471 for using fraudulent or dishonest documents as genuine and 34 for criminal act done for common intention as well as sections of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,1940.