A raid was conducted on Monday at a firm — Care and Cure For You — in south Kolkata as part of a joint operation by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the Drugs Control Directorate, West Bengal, and the firm’s owner, Arundhati Roy Chowdhury, was arrested on Tuesday.

According to sources, during the raids, which began on December 17, at the firm’s Bhawanipore godown as well as the residence of the proprietor in Lake Market, the investigators had found vials of fake or below standard injections, where each vial was worth between rupees 2-3 lakhs.

Around 300 empty boxes and 400 labels were “seized” from the godown, the sources said, adding that investigators are now looking into who all are involved in the “racket”.

Meanwhile, samples of the medicines have been sent to quality control teams for a quality check.

On Tuesday, a statement by the Union Health Ministry read that the proprietor of the wholesale organisation, was taken into custody by the Drugs Inspector of CDSCO, East Zone, and has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Chowdhury had moved to the Calcutta High Court when she was ordered to submit all documents by December 27.

As she failed to produce proper documents, she was arrested.

The statement further added that a large quantity of anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and other drugs that are suspected to be spurious had been seized.

“The drugs, labelled as being manufactured in various countries including Ireland, Turkey, the USA, and Bangladesh, were found without any supporting documents to prove their legitimate

importation into India. In the absence of such documentation, these drugs are deemed to be spurious. The investigating team also discovered several empty packing materials, further raising concerns over the authenticity of the seized products,” the statement said.