The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB), in collaboration with the Balapur police, made significant arrests in a case involving a fatal drug overdose. A teenage boy tragically died, while two other youths were hospitalized after ingesting Tapentadol Hydrochloride, a Schedule H1 drug.
Investigators arrested Sahil, a drug peddler, who confessed to purchasing the prescription-only drug from a Shamshabad medical store owned by Jagannathan Praveen. Sahil admitted to buying the tablets at inflated prices. Following his confession, Praveen was taken into custody. Surveillance footage and online transactions corroborated their involvement, and batch numbers of the medicine further linked them to the illegal sale.
Officials noted that Tapentadol is a highly addictive painkiller that can lead to dependency. Classified as a Schedule H1 substance since November 2021 due to its high abuse potential, it is yet to be included in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Despite its dangerous nature, the drug is under national-level control in India, and the United States has classified it as a Schedule II controlled substance.
