Karnataka Forms SIT to Probe Rs 5-Crore Fake Drug Racket Busted Near Bidadi

The Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe a spurious medicine and drug racket that was recently uncovered at a farmhouse in Kurubara Karenahalli near Bidadi on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

According to a government order dated August 20, the team will be headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police C Vamsi Krishna, who also serves as the Joint Commissioner of Police (West) in Bengaluru. The investigation will be supervised by Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) R Hitendra.

The SIT includes Superintendent of Police Shivaprakash Devaraju, Criminal Investigation Department SP Lokesh B Jagalasar, Assistant Drug Controllers Manjunath Reddy and Namratha Hallur, and Drugs Inspector Neha Murgi. Under Section 2(1)(u) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the state has empowered the team to function as a police station and submit its investigation reports directly to the relevant courts.

The team will take over the case registered at the Tavarekere police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 276 (adulteration of drugs) and 318(4) (cheating), along with sections of the Copyright Act, 1957. The state government has also instructed that any other related cases registered elsewhere be transferred to the SIT.

The racket was busted following a joint operation by the Food and Drug Administration and the Bengaluru South district police. Investigators found that spurious drugs supplied from Himachal Pradesh and Telangana were brought to the farmhouse, filled into new vials, and relabelled under the names of prominent pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Eucrasia Healthcare Private Limited, and Welcure Remedies.

Officials seized contraband valued at Rs 5 crore during the raid. Testing and inspection revealed that the seized products either contained no active medicinal ingredients or carried incorrect and potentially harmful substances, while the scanning codes printed on the counterfeit labels were non-functional.

Police said the farmhouse had been leased to an NRI residing in Dubai named Prashanth, while the on-ground operation was run by another suspect named Tejas, who is currently absconding. Officers have arrested one worker, identified as Prabhu Dev Gowda, in connection with the case.