The blackmarket prices of each vial has seen an upward trend in the recent past, police said. In yet another case of the black marketing of remdesivir, in which one vial was being sold for Rs 70,000, police have arrested two persons. Police said one of the accused is a 22-year-old, who first purchased the medicine when his father tested Covid positive and later started selling the drug illegally.
According to police, they have observed that the black market prices at which each vial is being sold has seen an upward trend over multiple cases.
Police said on Sunday, a team from the Unit 1 of the Pune city Crime Branch received a tip-off that two persons were selling remdesivir at Rs 70,000 per vial. Police laid a trap near a hospital on Karve Road and detained two persons. Three vials of remdesivir were seized from them, and they were later placed under arrest after verifying that they were selling the drug illegally and had, in fact, sold at least five vials, police added.
Inspector Bharat Jadhav of the Crime Branch said, “A probe has revealed that the 22-year-old man’s father tested positive some days ago and experienced difficulty in procuring remdesivir. Later, he started selling the vials at a much higher price by procuring them through various means. He also had to pay his father’s medical bills, for which he used the money earned from illegal sale. He has sold at least five vials. We have recovered three vials from the accused. We are probing how he managed to get them. The man’s father has recovered from Covid-19.”
An FIR in the case was filed on a complaint lodged by Food and Drug Administration officials. The two suspects were remanded in police custody till Tuesday, officials said.
An official from the Crime Branch said, “We have arrested 16 people in eight separate cases of illegal sale of remdesivir injections, in which 15 vials have been recovered. We have observed the price at which the vials are being sold illegally, and it has seen an upward trend that implies people are desperate and are paying massive sums to get the drug.”
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