Passport troubles
In mid-Aug, the Karnataka Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA), in coordination with local police, busted a counterfeit medicine manufacturing and repackaging operation near Tavarakere in Ramanagara district, on Bengaluru’s southern outskirts. The govt subsequently formed a special investigation team comprising three IPS officers and FSDA officials to probe the racket. The SIT has so far arrested four people in connection with the fake drug racket.
A senior officer said the accused had supplied repackaged Pfizer drugs to several private, multi-speciality and govt hospitals across Bengaluru and other parts of the state. “Once we take Prashant into custody, we can get details of the hospitals that received these drugs from him,” the officer said.
Bengaluru: The investigation into the multi-crore fake drug racket took an unexpected turn after suspected kingpin R Prashant, 36, who is holed up in Azerbaijan, claimed that immigration officials there had impounded his passport after accusing him of attempting to sell it to locals for money.