Thane, February 18 Police in the Thane district of Maharashtra have arrested two individuals for allegedly selling counterfeit blood pressure medications worth approximately 9 lakh rupees that imitated the name and design of a widely prescribed brand, an official said on Wednesday.
According to a statement by the Kalyan police, the accused sold fake "Telma AM tablets (Telmisartan 40 mg and Amlodipine 5 mg)" using the license of "Shriram Pharma", falsely presenting them as products of the original manufacturer.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a raid on January 20 and seized 2,795 strips of fake "Telma AM" tablets valued at 8,94,400 rupees, it said.
Following the FDA complaint, a case was registered at the Manpada police station in Dombivali under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 and Rules of 1945.
The prime accused, identified as Pankaj Radheshyam Upadhyay (33), a distributor and medical representative residing in Dombivli East, was arrested on January 21.
"The accused (Upadhyay) was aware that the medicine was fake and that its consumption could pose a serious threat to human life, yet he continued to distribute it," the statement said.
During the investigation, police learned that the stock of duplicate medicines had allegedly been supplied by Vivek Ajaykumar Rai (35), a resident of Kandivali East in Mumbai. He was arrested on February 16, the police said.
Further investigation is underway under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III) Atul Zende and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Dombivli Division) Suhas Hemade, the statement added.