Medicines manufactured without license seized in Himachal Pradesh
Una , Medicines worth ₹six lakh were seized from a pharma unit operating without license in Bathu area of Himachal’s Una district, officials said on Friday.
The raid was conducted by the Una police along with the drug department at the pharma unit on Thursday night. The unit, which had been closed 14 years ago, was illegally manufacturing drugs.
Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Special Investigation Branch in-charge Sunil Kumar Sankhyan raided the unit and illegally manufactured tablets were found in the premises.
The factory’s license was revoked in 2011 after serious deficiencies were found. Despite this, production continued without any valid permission. The seized drugs were for general use and no banned drugs were found, Drug Inspector Pankaj Gautam said.
Action is being taken against the factory owner under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and an investigation is underway to determine where the drugs were supplied and who else is involved, he added.
Superintendent of Police, Una, Amit Yadav said that violations of regulations will not be tolerated and action will continue. The drug department will now investigate the quality, validity and documentation of the seized batch.
After Bathu, the joint team also conducted a surprise inspection of another pharma unit located on Karmapur-Laldi Road. The unit was found closed for a long time, and no activity was found on the premises.
Nearly 50 pharmaceutical industries in the state are closed, but some of them are manufacturing drugs illegally. Recently, a case came to light in Baddi where a defunct company illegally manufactured drugs in the name of an Assamese factory.
Investigation has revealed that the original pharmaceutical company is closed and no longer manufactures the drug. The company operator has been sent to judicial custody, while the supplier remains at large.
Following this incident, the Drug Control Administration ‘s Anti-Narcotics Task Force had conducted extensive raids across the state on Wednesday and 20 industries were simultaneously raided in Sirmaur, Una, Kangra, and Solan districts.
At four locations, irregularities were found and production activities were continuing despite the closure.
State Drug Controller Manish Kapoor said the administration has a zero-tolerance policy towards violations. He warned that any company found to be disobeying orders would face strict action.
