A joint team of food safety and police officials raided a factory in Dehradun allegedly manufacturing fake medicines of leading pharmaceutical companies.
Lucknow: A joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) and the Ghaziabad Crime Branch has busted an alleged fake medicine manufacturing unit in Dehradun, seizing spurious medicines estimated to be worth Rs 5 to 7 crore, officials said.
The raid was conducted at a factory located in the Devi Pur area on New Highway Road in Dehradun, where fake medicines bearing the names of several leading pharmaceutical companies were allegedly being manufactured.
According to officials, the unit was producing spurious medicines using the names of companies including Cipla, Lupin, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Elder, Micro Labs, Mankind Pharma, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Abbott, Sun Pharma, Aristo Pharmaceuticals, Macleods Pharmaceuticals and Zydus Lifesciences. The medicines were allegedly intended to be sold in the market as genuine products.
Officials said the seizure is estimated to be worth between Rs 5 crore and Rs 7 crore. Counting, verification and seizure of the seized stock are underway.
FSDA Joint Commissioner Brajesh Kumar said the raid followed intelligence gathered during an ongoing crackdown on spurious and illegal medicines in Uttar Pradesh. He said earlier raids in districts including Lucknow and Ghaziabad had led officials to the Dehradun unit.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the fake medicines manufactured at the factory were being supplied to several districts of Uttar Pradesh through an organised interstate distribution network, officials said.
Further investigation is underway to identify those involved in the racket and trace the supply chain.
