A man claiming to be a staff member at the office of Bangalore South MP L S Tejasvi Surya was arrested on Sunday for selling antiviral drug Remdesivir on the black market, police said.
Police arrested Chethan, 26, a resident of Agrahara Dasarahalli, following a complaint from the BJP MP’s close aide, Bhanu Prakash.
According to police, Chethan had been working in a local Covid war room and selling the injection by using Surya’s name. He called up a person known to Bhanu Prakash and offered to sell the drug for Rs 10,000. (The drug’s maximum retail price is between Rs 899 and Rs 3,490, depending on the manufacturer).
As per Bhanu Prakash’s complaint, when he called up Chethan, the latter claimed to be a staffer at the MP’s office and gave his name as Shivalingaiah.
Stating that the suspect had “misused” Surya’s name to cheat people, Bhanu Prakash asked the police to take action against him.
“We have registered a case and arrested the suspect. We will question him after getting his custody from the court,” a police officer said.
Published 06 June 2021, 19:29 IST