The West Bengal government has sought the cooperation of the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh governments in its investigation of spurious drugs recovered from various places including in North 24 Parganas and Malda, stating that many such medicines were made in these two states.

If the states conduct their own inquiries and send reports to West Bengal, it will be easier for the government to continue its investigation, the letter said. Sources in Nabanna, the state secretariat, said a letter would also be written to Delhi, another BJP-ruled state.

Last week a large amount of spurious and substandard medicines was recovered during a raid by state and central drug control officials at a warehouse in Titagarh, North 24 Parganas. Human albumin ampules, used for treating low blood volume, were recovered during the raid.

According to sources, the raid had been initiated following searches at a private nursing home in north Kolkata after tip-offs.

What was more worrisome for the investigators was that the manufacturer had failed to recognise the batch number of the seized human albumin. The officials found that the albumin was supplied by a retailer at Beliaghata who had bought it from a wholesaler in Burrabazar. The wholesaler claimed the medicine was brought from a distributor in Mumbai.

In February, spurious medicines worth around Rs 17 lakh were seized from a godown in Howrah’s Amta area. The office of the agency was sealed and its owner arrested.

In Kolkata, authorities had uncovered a Rs 6.5-crore racket dealing in life-saving medicines that were found to be spurious. At least 44 types of low-quality and spurious medicines have flooded the market, according to sources.