Bhubaneswar, Jun 23 (UNI) The Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha crime branch today arrested three people for their alleged involvement in the trading of fake Favipiravir medicines, used for the treatment of Covid patients.
STF sources said the three arrested included the Director of the Medilloyd Medicaments Private Ltd (MMPL), the company selling the medicine and two of its other key members.
The accused are being forwarded to the Court today.
The STF has frozen Rs 50 lakh kept in the bank accounts of the three accused and the company.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a Crime Branch inquiry into the fake drug case on January 14 last after a huge quantity of Favipiravir tablets were seized from the shop of M/S MMPL, Cuttack during a raid by Drug Inspectors on June 11 last.
Later raids were conducted in different chemist shops across the state and some fake drugs were seized.
Multiple teams were formed to inquire into the incident. At present three teams are conducting an investigation into the case in Odisha, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
STF sources said during investigation it was revealed that MMPL conspired to procure the medicine from Max Relief Health Care, Solan, a dubious drug manufacturing company in Himachal Pradesh at Rs 65 per strip of ten tablets and planned to sell it at Rs 1290 per strip.
The Max Relief Health Care company was run by two persons and both of them have been arrested by Mumbai Police earlier this month and cases have been registered against them.
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