Officials sealed a godown following seizure of counterfeit medicines in Puducherry.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Enforcement Directorate is likely to come into the sphere of investigation in a case registered by the CB-CID in connection with the busting of illegal drug manufacturing units in Puducherry after the territorial police shared details of financial transactions involved in the business activities of those who ran the fake drug production network with the Central agency.
In September, a joint team of officials from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and Drugs Department of Puducherry, had raided a godown in Mettupalayam and seized empty capsules, tablets, medicine and packaging materials worth around ₹99. 47 lakh.
The raid was conducted after Agra police registered a case following disclosure by a pharmaceutical company owner who was arrested in connection with stockpiling and selling of spurious drugs. During the interrogation, the owner had disclosed about the procurement of drugs from Meenakshi Pharma in Puducherry.
After the raids were conducted in September, a Puducherry-based pharma had lodged a police complaint regarding sale of counterfeit drugs in the name of their company. Acting on the complaint, the CB-CID had registered a case on November 12 and conducted raids at Mettupalayam and Thirubhuvanai areas a few days ago.
The raids led to the arrest of two persons — A. K. Rana and Meyyappan — and seizure of a large quantity of medicines, ingredients used for manufacture of drugs, machinery and drug packaging materials from the godown. The main accused in the case one Raja, a native of Tamil Nadu, had escaped arrest.
“Only when we arrest Raja, we will be able to get to the bottom of this illegal drug manufacturing business. He is involved in the manufacture of drugs in the name of reputed pharma companies. Huge amount of money was involved in the production of fake drugs and so we have intimated the ED about the financial transactions involved in the business. The worth of the material and machinery seized itself will run into crores. The Central agency has already gathered information from the police on the case,” a senior police officer told The Hindu.
Penalty imposed
Meanwhile, following complaints about manufacture of counterfeit drugs, the territorial administration has increased its surveillance of industrial units. “In the last two months, we have penalised three companies for violating permit rules. They have been imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh each for misusing brand name, manufacture of substandard and counterfeit drugs,” said another official.
Published – December 04, 2025 08:08 pm IST
