The accused include owners of Medley Pharmaceuticals and Affy Parenterals – Himachal based pharmaceutical companies – besides Lifeline Pharmaco Surgical, drug suppliers based in Jammu.
“The court has asked the concerned Superintendents of Police to produce the accused in the court by May 27,” Advocate Musavir Joo, who represents the Drug and Food Control Organisation, told Freepress.
Lab tests had found that antibiotic Maximizen-625 tablets, supposed to contain 500mg of Amoxicillin, had zero percent of it. Tens of thousands of these tablets were used in valley hospitals to ‘cure’ bacterial infection.
The authorities had placed the order for these drugs with Lifeline Pharmaco. Two of its owners have already been arrested by the crime branch.
Affy Parenterals, one of the companies believed to have manufactured the counterfeit drug, had denied its role in the scandal saying its name was faked.
But Advocate Joo said the chargesheet was based on the findings of the investigation team sent to Himachal Pradesh to probe into who supplied the fake medicine.
“We have checked their bank records of the companies. Based on that we believe that they are involved in the scandal,” Joo says.
The authorities have formed a high-level committee to oversee the probe.
(Free Press Kashmir)
