On Thursday the Tamil Nadu Civil Supply Department police received information that Remdesivir was being sold in the black market near a private hospital in Tambaram for triple the price. Following that, a special team contacted the seller Dr Mohamed Imran Khan (26) who works in a private hospital in Tambaram, posing as a buyer. Sources said Khan agreed to sell it for Rs 20,000 is the final price. The government price is around Rs 1,500.

On the night Khan arrived near GST Road with the medicine, the police surrounded and arrested him and during inquiries found he had purchased Remdesivir for Rs 6,000 and was selling it for Rs 20,000. He had purchased the medicine from Vignesh and Raj Kumar of Tiruvanamalai. Police arrested Khan and his friend Vijay and recovered 17 vials from them. The cops also arrested Vignesh and Raj Kumar. At Mint Street the officials arrested Karthik, a pharma assistant working in a private hospital. He was selling vials for Rs 15,000. Two persons indentifed as Karthikeyan and Jasper Jano were arrested by the ICF police while two others Sambasivam and Ramu were nabbed by Vepery police for selling Remdesivir at exorbitant rates.