Mumbai: Five Arrested For Selling Remdesivir, Tocilizumab Injections On Black Market

Mumbai, 23 July 2020:

Thane police on Wednesday arrested five persons in connection with black marketing of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab injections, used in Covid-19 treatment.

The accused, police said, had been selling the drugs at higher rates on the black market. While the market price of Remdesivir is Rs 5,400 and Tocilizumab Rs 30,500, the accused were planning to sell the two drugs for Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively, police added.

Maharashtra Home Minister had earlier directed the police and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to take action against those found selling the drugs at higher rates.

Following a tip-off, the Anti-Extortion Cell of Thane police laid a trap and arrested three men, identified as Arun Singh (35), Sudhakar Giri (37) and Ravindra Shinde (35), when they came to deliver the drugs at a petrol pump in Thane.

Based on their interrogation, police arrested two others, identified as Wasim Shaikh (32) and Amitabh Das (39), from Navi Mumbai later.

Inspector Rajkumar Kothmire, who made the arrests, said while Singh and Giri are medical representatives, Das is a medical distributor. Shinde is a driver while Shaikh is a helper. “We are interrogating the accused to find out who else is involved in the black marketing,” Kothmire said. The New Indian Express