IT employee held in Tamil Nadu for trying to smuggle Remdesivir to Bengaluru

KRISHNAGIRI: An IT employee, who attempted to smuggle nine vials of Remdesivir to Bengaluru, was arrested by the Civil Supply CID team near ESI Hospital close to the Hosur- Karnataka border on Friday. 

Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that is sometimes used in treatment of moderately ill patients with Covid-19 that is currently in short supply. Experts and officials have repeatedly stressed that it is not a mandated or life-saving drug for Covid. 

The Civil Supply CID team, led by Inspector Illavarasi and SI Thenarasu, were conducting routine checks along the Hosur-Karnataka borders on Friday when they spotted a vehicle attempting to cross the border to Karnataka. The vehicle was stopped. 

On investigation, the team found that an IT employee named Anandh Balaji was allegedly attempting to smuggle nine vials of Remeesvir to Bengaluru. 

According to police, Anandh, a native of Bengaluru, was employed in company in Chennai. He had allegedly bought the vials from one Dr Mahendiran from Villupuram and was transporting the drug to Bengaluru where police said he planned to sell it for a higher price.

He had taken a lesser-known route to bypass the police checkpoint but was caught, police said. 

Police said that he had brought each vial for Rs 10,000 and had confessed that he had planned to sell them for over Rs 15,000 each. The vials were confiscated and handed over to the SIPCOT police station for safekeeping.