CID busts fake medicine making unit in Mehsana

Ahmedabad, May 2017:

A team of the state police's CID (crime) raided a medicine manufacturing unit near Mehsana on Friday evening and found it to be producing a branded medicine without licensing. Samples of the raw material and packed tubes have been sent for forensic analysis, to ascertain the ingredients. Three persons were caught and booked under provisions of the Trade Marks Act, Indian Copyright Act and IPC.

Investigators said that in terms of items seized, this is the biggest seizures for a case for violation of copyright and trademarks.

CID (crime) officials said a team led by inspector D M Mishra raided Vedis Pharma at Sumeshwar Industry Park near Mandali village in Mehsana district and goods worth Rs 1.98 crore. The seized goods include raw materials, machinery and packed tubes of Clobet-GM® RC Skin Cream, a medication used to treat skin infections.

The unit is owned by Manish Patel and Sachin Patel, both residents of Mehsana, and Hasmukh Patel, a resident of Mumbai. Manish and Sachin Patel were caught at the spot. The fourth accused is Ahmedabad-based Jayesh Mehta, who had ordered the production of the batch. The unit did not have a license to manufacture the medication, said investigators.

"We learned that Mehta has been accused in two similar cases with Navrangpura and Sarkhej police stations in Ahmedabad. He operated under the name "Universal". He had set up Universal Impex, Universal Pharma and Universal Lab in recent years. He would change the production facilities after each batch, both inside Gujarat and outside, to evade suspicion. We are yet to ascertain the composition of the ointment and if it was different from the standard formula," said a CID official.