Karnataka’s Health Minister U.T. Khader announced on Friday that investigators have arrested the owner of a Bengaluru-based healthcare firm as part of a major crackdown on an interstate counterfeit drug racket supplying fake medicines and ICU injections to hospitals and clinics.
The minister described it as one of the biggest seizures of its kind in the country.
Seizure and Investigation
According to Khader, the state’s Health and Family Welfare Department and the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration raided a farmhouse near the Bidadi Toll Gate on August 18, seizing suspected fake and expired medicines worth nearly Rs 5 crore.
The preliminary investigation has revealed a concerning operation spanning multiple states. Khader said the network was sourcing cheap bulk drugs from manufacturing hubs in Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, then refilling them into new vials at the Bidadi facility and relabeling them as premium imported brands of multinational companies, including drugs meant for patients and ICU wards.
Government Response
“We did not wait a single day,” Khader said. On August 19, after discussions with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Home Minister Priyank Kharge, a six-member Special Investigation Team headed by a senior IPS officer was constituted. The team includes officers from the Food Safety and Drug Administration and Commercial Taxes Departments.
The full list of spurious and counterfeit drugs has been shared with the Union government and all states. Every hospital and nursing home in Karnataka has been directed not to use the seized medicines.
Khader said he has written to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda requesting support from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and central regulatory agencies to map the network’s supply chain and halt nationwide distribution.
Commitments and Warnings
The SIT is investigating the suspected supply of counterfeit medicines and ICU injections to hospitals and clinics in Bengaluru.
“We will track down every link in their network, dismantle it brick by brick, and ensure every person responsible faces the harshest punishment under law,” Khader said. “There will be no mercy for anyone who profits from patients’ desperation.”
He added that Karnataka will safeguard its patients. “That is not just a promise. It is also a warning to every counterfeiter in this country.”