This was against the range of Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,400 at which the government has capped the price of the drug to stop its black marketing, police added. In two separate incidents at Daund and Narayangaon areas of Pune district, police arrested three persons involved in the alleged black marketing of remdesivir. Police said they seized six vials of the drug from them, which they were selling for Rs 32,000 to 45,000 per unit.
According to police, in the first raid at Hutatma Chowk in Daund, a team of the local crime branch of Pune Rural Police arrested two persons, working on a tip-off. Police said the team recovered three vials of remdesivir from the suspects, identified as Akshay Sonavane (24) and Suraj Sabale (23), who were selling each vial for Rs 32,000. This was against the range of Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,400 at which the government has capped the price of the drug to stop its black marketing, police added.
In the second incident at Varulwadi village in Narayangaon, an crime branch team arrested a man, identified as Rohan Ganeshkar (29), who was trying to sell remdesivir vials at Rs 45,000 per unit, police said. Three vials were seized from him, they added.
Officials from the three police jurisdictions in Pune district — Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune rural — said their teams were keeping a close watch to curb the illegal sale and black marketing of remdesivir and other Covid-related drugs and medical supplies.
To date, police have, so far, arrested 14 persons in seven different cases of the alleged illegal sale of remdesivir injections at black market prices. Police have seized 12 vials in these cases.
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