Medicine scam found in Haryana

Firm sends cough syrup to Bangladesh ‘illegally’

Haryana food and drug regulators have unearthed a racket of alleged diversion and transportation of more than two lakh bottles of a popular cough syrup by a Hisar-based firm to Bangladesh.

The state Food and Drugs Administration Sunday said more than two lakh bottles of cough syrup supplied by a leading pharmaceutical company to Hisar-based firm J P Medicose were found to have been diverted to Bangladesh illegally by the firm in connivance with a fictitious Bhiwani-based medicine wholesaler.

State Drug Controller G L Singhal said investigations by the FDA found that the huge quantities of the cough syrup were supplied by the pharma company directly to the Hisar- based dealer, who had further shown to have supplied the entire stocks to a Bhiwani-based unlicensed medicine trader, whose licenses had expired in 2008.

“The entire sales were found to have been made to this Bhiwani-based firm without any supply order and shown to have been made against cash payment,” Singhal said.He said that on further investigations, it was found that the entire sale was fake as the firm to which sales had been made was non-existent.

FIR under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 has been registered against the Hisar-based firm and its owner for illicit shipment, a statement by state government said Sunday. The premises of the firm has also been sealed.

The FDA authorities said investigations into the matter led to another case of 1.5 lakh bottles of the cough syrup being supplied by the pharma company to another Ambala-based medicine trader, Laxmi Drugs Store, who also allegedly syphoned off the entire stocks illicitly and prepared fake documents to have sold to a wholesaler who never purchased any of the product.

The department has booked the store’s owner under the NDPS Act and various provisions of the IPC and sealed its premises. Further investigation is on in the case.