The 36-year-old alleged kingpin of a counterfeit pharmaceutical racket spanning multiple states was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport soon after his arrival from Sharjah early Monday, investigators said on Monday.
Investigators suspect low cost medicines procured from neighbouring states were being transferred into new vials and relabelled as expensive pharmaceutical products. The FDA also found that QR and scanning codes on the counterfeit labels did not work when checked. The probe began after a labourer in C K Tandya village near Dodderi in Ramanagara district noticed discarded medicine waste, including vials, tubes and packets containing some powder. He alerted a police constable, who visited the area, collected samples and passed the information to senior officers.
Police said R Prashanth was arrested at around 5.40am. The arrest came nearly six weeks after investigators seized medicines worth ₹ 4.91 crore, along with expired stock, injection filling equipment, packaging material and forged labels from an unlicensed facility at a farmhouse at Kurubarakeranahalli. The total value of the seized items cited by the FDA was around ₹ 5.05 crore. Among the largest seizures were 5,640 vials labelled as Cefiavigent 2.5 injections, valued at about ₹ 3.38 crore. Jain was arrested after the SIT and drugs control department raided his pharmacy on September 11 as investigators traced the suspected distribution chain.
Information obtained from other suspects in custody, including city pharmacist Veeresh Kumar Jain, aided Prashanth’s arrest, said police.
The SIT is expected to produce him before a court on Monday and seek his custody for further questioning,” said an officer in the know. The state government constituted the SIT on August 20 to investigate the network. The FDA subsequently cancelled 16 drug licences and suspended eight others as the probe expanded to pharmacies and wholesalers.
A team led by assistant commissioner of police Anjan Kumar took him into custody at the airport. “He was taken for a medical examination and later brought to the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner’s office, where the Special Investigation Team recorded his preliminary statement. The investigation began with a tip from a labourer who found discarded medicine vials, tubes and packets containing powder in a field near Dodderi. Samples of the seized medicines were sent for laboratory tests to establish their chemical composition, sterility and potency.
