Following a major raid in Howrah, the Directorate of Drug Control arrested wholesaler Bablu Manna for running a large-scale fake medicine racket. Officials seized counterfeit medicines worth over Rs 1 crore, even though medicines worth Rs 17 lakh were recovered directly from his premises in Amta, Howrah.
The seizure revealed that the fake medicines included market-leading brands like Telemisartan and Metformin, used for treating high blood pressure and diabetes. Alarmingly, the counterfeiters copied the QR codes, which were introduced in 2023 to help consumers verify the authenticity of medicines.
Prithwi Bose, General Secretary of the Bengal Chemist and Druggists Association, expressed concern over the sophisticated forgery: “The QR codes were meant to help consumers avoid counterfeit drugs, but these manufacturers copied them entirely.”
Retailers across Bengal are worried about the fake medicines already in circulation. Manna reportedly procured the medicines from Bihar via online orders and supplied them to retailers statewide. Somnath Ghosh of Metro Pharma stated, “These fake medicines belonged to well-reputed pharmaceutical companies, and they copied them entirely.”
Investigators have also identified two more agencies linked to Manna, registered in the names of his relatives, which are now under scrutiny. Manna’s membership with the chemists’ organization was cancelled, and he was produced in court on Friday.
This raid comes a month after the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation seized spurious drugs worth Rs 6.6 crore from Kolkata, highlighting the growing threat of counterfeit medicines in the state.
