Cuttack Tops In Spurious Drugs Cases In Odisha In 2 Years, Says Minister

Bhubaneswar: Highest number of cases of spurious drugs trade have been registered in Cuttack district in the last 2 financial years, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari on Monday.

Replying to a question of BJP MLA Kusum Tete in the Assembly, the minister said cases have been registered against total 51 agencies in connection with the illegal drugs trade at different places in the state during the last two years. Of those, highest 8 cases have been filed against the agencies in Cuttack district. Besides, 12 persons have been arrested in this connection, added the minister.

The minister said spurious drugs worth around Rs 1.74 crore have been seized in the state during the period. Giving the details, he said while the fake medicines worth around Rs 98.61 lakh were seized in 2021-22 fiscal, those of around Rs 74.76 lakh were seized in 2022-23.

The BJP legislator also wanted to know the raids conducted by the Drugs Inspector in connection with the spurious drugs in Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts. In his reply, the minister said the last raids were conducted in Sundargarh on February 2 and 3 and in Jharsuguda district on January 21 and 25.

While fake medicines worth Rs 11,000 were seized in 2021-22 fiscal and Rs 4,441 in 2022-23 in Sundargarh, the figures were Rs 41,691 in 2021-22 and Rs 1.15 lakh in 2022-23 in Jharsuguda, the minister added.