Continuing their crackdown on those illegally selling Remdesivir, Central Crime Branch sleuths nabbed a male nurse in Jayanagar General Hospital and seized six vials of the drug.
Police said they received a tip-off from a relative of a Covid patient that the suspect Maruthi, hailing from Gokak in Belagavi district, is illegally selling the drug.
A police team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police H N Dharamendraiah nabbed Maruthi, a contract employee with the hospital for the past year.
Deployed in the Covid ward, Maruthi pocketed Remdesivir vials meant to be given to the patients and sold them for an exorbitant price.
When the doctors gave him 10 Remdesivir vials, Maruthi would only give eight to the patients and keep the other two with him.
He sold nearly 30 vials and charged from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 for each. He had transferred Rs 3.9 lakh to his family members over the last month. The drug is priced between Rs 899 and Rs 3,490, down from the earlier bandwidth of Rs 2,800 to Rs 5,400.
A case has been registered against him in the Tilak Nagar police station and further investigations are on.