Spurious life-saving drugs sourced from abroad for last 1.5 yrs
Times of India | 2 January 2025
Kolkata: A Lake Place property taken on rent barely one and a half years back was being used to source spurious life-saving drugs from the US, Ireland, Turkey and Bangladesh for sale locally has come as a shocker for this south Kolkata neighbourhood. Arundhati Roychoudhury, proprietor of the company that purportedly imported spurious drugs worth Rs 6.6 crore, used this address as one of her warehouses.
While none of the locals knew about the warehouse, they claimed that the owner might have taken the premises on rent. The entry to the premises was locked from outside. Roychoudhury, unknown to the medicine wholesalers or retailers in Kolkata, started her company one-and-a-half years ago. However, her business grew almost overnight.
When investigators reached her Kansaripara warehouse in Bhowanipore, they found a room rented to the company. Medicines worth crores were stored in it. The house owner of the house refused to speak.
According to Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) sources, Roychoudhury produced a single invoice in support of such a huge quantity of medicines. "She never took a licence for a medicine retail shop. We are going through her bank account details to find out how she procured these medicines and her buyers," said a CDSCO official.
Locals in Bhowanipore said that medical representatives were seen visiting the godown. Sources indicated that a chain of agents was involved in getting patients connected to the wholesaler. These agents got in touch with the patients and assured them medicines at less than half the price. After the patients agreed to procure medicines without any receipt. Roychoudhury also used online trading platforms to sell these medicines. "Some of the medicines are not even approved by the Indian authorities. These medicines might be manufactured in countries that do not have stringent drug manufacturing norms," said an official with the CDSCO. "I cannot say much at this juncture," said Rajat Mandal, lawyer of Roychoudhury.
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