The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Haryana on Tuesday arrested a man for allegedly selling spurious “imported drugs” targeting gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts, the third such case of counterfeit drug sales in Gurugram in three years.
In 2023, FDA authorities in Gurugram arrested four individuals and seized counterfeit cancer medicines imported from Turkey. A year later in 2024, FDA officials again uncovered counterfeit medicines supply racket which was related to arthritis and originally manufactured abroad.
In the first case, all four arrested individuals are currently out on bail and the case is under trial, while in the second case, three arrested accused are still in jail, according to Amandeep Chauhan, drug control officer of Gurugram, who has led the crackdown in all the three cases.
The FDA officials said the accused, Hariom, was apprehended on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday from New Palam Vihar, Phase-2, near Little Angel school in Gurugram, following a raid by drug control authorities and local police.
Acting on intelligence inputs, officials seized 70 counterfeit “headon” injections (Somatropin for Injection IP-Recombinant Human Growth Hormone for Injection).
“…It is submitted that Hariom…was arrested on March 4 at 1.30 am from K155, New Palam Vihar, Phase-2, near Little Angel School Gurugram, Haryana for offences under section 18 (c), 18-A, 18-B, 17 (B) of The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for selling spurious drugs near Empire fitness gym, Sector 31, Gurugram,” the drug control officer, FDA Gurugram, wrote in a letter to the district authorities while informing about the arrest of the accused.
The sections under which the accused has been booked deal with the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of spurious drugs.
As per the official records, Vishwa Vijay Singh, senior manager (anti-counterfeit division, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.), said the seized drugs were never imported by the company, which owns the “Headon” brand.
According to a “spot memo” (a copy of which is with Hindustan Times), on March 3 FDA officials and police visited the residence of one Ankit Sharma in Gurugram around 11pm after an initial investigation. Sharma was questioned about the sale of Headon injections using a specific mobile number. He disclosed that the number, though issued in his name, was being used by his associate, Hariom.
The team, along with Ankit Sharma as a witness, reached Hariom’s residence at 12.10am on March 4. Upon questioning, Hariom admitted to selling spurious drugs, and a stockpile of counterfeit injections was recovered at the scene.
“The operation was videographed,” says the spot memo report. Hariom confessed that he purchased the injections, relabelled them, and sold them via IndiaMART. He failed to produce a Retail Sale Drugs License, leading to his arrest at 1.30am.
“…There were labels recovered (from the house of accused) which mentioned made in USA. Hariom informed that he used to purchase the injections and get the products relabelled and sell them in market through Indiamart. Hariom was asked to produce the valid Retail Sale Drugs License for selling the recovered allopathic drugs and the drug sold i.e. Headon…he informed that he had not taken any such license… Hariom was arrested at 01:30 am for selling the spurious drugs Headon at Sector 31 which falls under the jurisdiction of PS Sector 40….” reads the “spot memo” signed by FDA officials and the accused.
Officials admit that this incident is part of a disturbing trend in the region.
Haryana’s state drug controller, Manmohan Taneja, said that in 2023 a team led by Gurugram’s drug control officer, Amandeep Chauhan, had busted a counterfeit drug racket and seized fake cancer medicines in Gurugram.
The accused were allegedly supplying the fake cancer drugs which they were importing from Turkey even as the original manufacturer was based in Italy.
In 2024 case, officials raided a supplier in Sector 37, recovering counterfeit steroids. All the three accused on this case are behind the bars, officials said.
These back-to-back cases highlight Gurugram’s emergence as a hub for counterfeit drugs, raising serious concerns.
Taneja, said that as per a 2020 ruling of the Supreme Court drug inspectors have the power to arrest without a warrant in cognizable offences under Chapter IV of the Act. The Supreme Court has upheld this authority, clarifying that while police officers cannot arrest under this law, drug inspectors can provided they report the arrest to their superiors as per the legal provisions.
Authorities are now probing whether these three cases are part of a larger counterfeit drug syndicate operating across the region.
