Dehradun, February 18 The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested three more suspects linked to a gang allegedly involved in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, officials said on Wednesday.
STF Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh said that Naresh Dhiman, a resident of Roorkee in Haridwar district, Lokesh Gulati, a resident of Ganganahar, and Mohtaram Ali, a resident of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, were arrested on Tuesday during raids at their homes.
Naveen Bansal, also known as Akshay, who had previously been arrested in the case, was procuring counterfeit drugs – exact replicas of branded medicines – from the three accused and selling them in the market.
The SSP said that another case related to counterfeit medicines has been registered against accused Gulati in Ganganagar, while information about the accused is also being gathered from other districts and states.
He said that following the latest arrests, 16 members of the alleged organized network involved in the production, trafficking, and sale of counterfeit drugs have been arrested.
Singh said that the illegal operation came to light after a man named Santosh Kumar was arrested in the Selaqui area on June 1 last year with a large quantity of counterfeit wrappers, fake labels, and QR codes from renowned pharmaceutical companies.
Considering the gravity of the matter, the investigation was subsequently handed over to the Special Task Force (STF).