Three arrested in Chennai for selling Remdesivir vials smuggled from Bangladesh

Chennai police have arrested three persons for selling Remdesivir injections, allegedly smuggled from Bangladesh, at an exorbitant price. Police said the accused were selling a vial of the medicine, the authenticity of which is yet to be confirmed, for Rs 25,000.

Remdesivir, a key medicine used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, is in high demand in the country in the wake of the surge in coronavirus cases.

According to reports, Aadityan (24), Raj Kumar (27) and Syed Amjith (38) were arrested by a special team of Adyar Police. Aadityan, Raj Kumar have their own pharmacies in the city while Amjith works in another pharmacy. They have been sent to judicial custody.

“The special team of police was monitoring sales of Remdesivir medicines on black market and came across an advertisement online which was shared through Whatsapp status and messages. Based on the message, police posing as customers nabbed the trio near Indira Nagar water tank,” a police officer told the New Indian Express.

The daily quoted another officer as saying that the trio had confessed to the crime and told the investigators that they received the medicine from Bangladesh through an agent. The cover of the vial has a different name and the price tag says 3,500 Bangladeshi Taka, he said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government said on Sunday that Remdesivir would be made available directly to private hospitals to avoid overcrowding in places designated for its prescription based sale by state authorities to the kin of COVID-19 patients.

The state reported over 33,000 new COVID-19 cases and over 300 deaths for the second consecutive day on Sunday, the Health Department said.

Chennai accounted for 6,247 new infections while Chengalpet saw 2,041 cases, Coimbatore 3,166, Erode 1,232, Kancheepuram 1,119, Kanyakumari 1,030, Madurai 1,095, Tiruvallur 1,835 and Tiruchirappalli 1,569.