Neurologist among 3 held for selling Remdesivir at Rs 30-40k

Ghaziabad: Three persons, including a well-known neurologist in Delhi-NCR, have been arrested for allegedly selling Remdesivir and Actemra in the black market. They sold the injections in Gurgaon, Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida, police said.
The police have recovered 70 vials of Remdevisir, two vials of Actemra and Rs 36 lakh from their possession. According to police, the prime suspect in the case has been identified as Dr Md Altamash Hussain (42), who works as a national CEO at a private firm. He has an MBBS degree from KGMC (Lucknow) and FIRCP from AIIMS (New Delhi). The cops said till a few months ago, he worked as a guest doctor (physician) in AIIMS. He was also running a clinic in Delhi. His associates have been identified as Kumail Akram, a resident of Ghaziabad, and Jajib Ali from Delhi.
Nipun Aggarwal, SP (city 1), said that the police received a tip-off that a few agents were involved in black marketing of Remdevisir and Actemra. They were informed that the accused sold the injections to relatives of Covid patients at a higher price.
“A team of SWAT and Kotwali police station kept an eye on them. On Tuesday afternoon, they caught them red-handed while they were negotiating a deal with a patient’s relative outside a private hospital,” the SP said.
Akram was caught near the hospital. Later, Ali was arrested after Akram gave away his location. During questioning, both of them named Dr Altamash. Police then set a trap in Ghaziabad to arrest the doctor.
Sandeep Singh, SHO of Kotwali police station, said Akram and Ali managed to get details of prescriptions given by various doctors and give them to Dr Altamash. “The prime suspect is a well-known doctor in Delhi-NCR. He knew some owners of medical shops, where he sent his men to get the injections. They then sold the life-saving drugs for around Rs 30,000 to 40,000 depending upon the urgency of buyers,” he added.
“During interrogation, the accused told police that he had sold the injections to a minimum of 150 people in the last 20 days. On Wednesday too, he had to give these injections to at least 12 people in Delhi, Gurgaon and other parts of the NCR,” he said. Police also recovered a Skoda car from the doctor and a Bullet bike from the other two.
The trio has been booked under Section 420 (cheating) of IPC and relevant sections of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act. They will also be booked under the National Security Act (NSA), as per the UP chief minister’s orders.