ED raids in 'illegal' drugs sale case by Punjab de-addiction centres

Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided multiple locations in Punjab apart from some in Mumbai as part of a money laundering investigation linked to "illegal" sale of drugs by private de-addiction centres in the northern state, official sources said.

The federal probe agency's investigation stems from various FIRs filed by Punjab Police against a doctor named Amit Bansal, a pharmaceutical company, a drugs inspector and some others.

Bansal runs 22 drugs de-addiction centres across Punjab, the sources said.

The raids are being conducted in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Barnala in Punjab and in Mumbai, Maharashtra, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

Sources said private de-addiction centres like the ones run by Bansal have been entrusted by the Punjab government to provide BNX (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) medicine to patients, enrolled in their facilities, so that they can be weaned away from narcotics.

It was found that these medicines meant for rehabilitation of drug addicts were being taken in "excess" quantity for a "new kind of drug abuse", they said.

The sources claimed Bansal, through his de-addiction centres, "misused" the facilities and was involved in "illegal" sale of such drugs.

A drugs inspector named Rupinder Kaur is being searched as the official allegedly assisted Bansal in forwarding incorrect inspection report related to pilferage of medicine from his hospitals, the sources said.

A phrama company named Rusan Phrama Limited, manufacturer of BNX, was also covered during the action, they said.