Spurious Medicine Business In Odisha: Health Dept To Send Team To Varanasi For Probe

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to send a team of officials along with police personnel to Varanasi as part of investigation into the sale, supply and distribution of spurious drugs in the state.

Sources said Health Secretary Shalini Pandit has written to her Uttar Pradesh counterpart stating that the department is sending a three-member team accompanied by police officials to Varanasi in connection with the probe into spurious drugs sale in Odisha.

The team comprising Assistant Drugs Controllers Dr Sudarsan Biswal, Tushar Ranjan Panigrahi, and Dharmadev Puhan will proceed to Varanasi to obtain details of firms from the Drugs Control Administration in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

According to sources, the special drugs enforcement squad formed by the state government which probed the details of procurement of spurious drugs in Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts, found an inter-state racket.

It was found that there was an inter-state network in the sale, supply and distribution of spurious drugs among certain distributors of Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts with around three Varanasi-based firms.

Health Secretary Pandit has requested the UP government to issue necessary instructions to the authorities concerned in their state to extend cooperation to the team deputed for the purpose so as to take things to a logical conclusion, the sources added.