Police grill pharma director over Remdesivir stock BJP fumes

    (Eds: Adds details)
    Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI) Mumbai police questioned a pharma
company director following information that thousands of vials
of the Remdesivir drug critical in coronavirus treatment were
to be flown out of the country, an official said on Sunday.
    Police said they had information that the Remdesivir
stock was going to be flown abroad by air cargo, despite a ban
on the export of the drug.
    The appearance of top Maharashtra BJP leaders late at
night at the BKC police station after the director was grilled
has further intensified the political slugfest between the
Shiv Sena-led regime in the state and the BJP over handling of
the pandemic and paucity of critical healthcare supplies.
    Police on Saturday night questioned Rajesh Dokania,
director of Bruck Pharma, a Daman-based pharmaceutical
manufacturing company that manufactures Remdesivir vials.
    Dokania was called for questioning from his home in
north Mumbai suburb Kandivali by Ville Parle police around
8.30 pm and allowed to return around midnight.
    Police had information that at least 60,000 Remdesivir
vials are being exported through air cargo, a police official
told PTI.
    As the Remdesivir quantity was large, police decided
to question the company director to know about the drug stock.
    "He had stocked at least 60,000 vials. The government
had allowed him to sell the stock meant for export in the
domestic market due to scarcity of the drug," the official
said.
    "We acted in the good faith as such a huge stock can
serve the need of the patients here (in Maharashtra) too," DCP
Manjunath Singe said.
    The opposition BJP in Maharashtra objected to the
pharma executive's grilling by Mumbai police, saying the state
government was playing politics amid the pandemic.
    It now appears that the stock had been arranged by the
BJP for distribution in Maharashtra.
    On learning that Dokania was being questioned, former
chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and another state BJP leader
Praveen Darekar rushed to the police station.
    They said the Maharashtra unit of the BJP had taken
the initiative to reach out to various pharma companies due to
the shortage of Remdesivir. "It was our sincere attempt to get
Remdesivar for Maharashtra," Fadnavis said.
    "Four days ago we had requested Bruck Pharma to supply
us Remdesivir but they couldn't until permission was given. I
spoke to Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and we got FDA's
permission," Fadnavis said.
    The BJP leader claimed that a Maharashtra minister's
officer on special duty called the pharma executive and asked
him how he could provide Remdesivir on the appeal of
opposition parties.
    The pharma director was picked up from his house by 10
policemen, Fadnavis said, describing the action as "beyond his
imagination".
    The Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly said
the state government was harassing the pharma company as BJP
leaders had approached him for the supply of the antiviral
medication to Maharashtra.
    "We (BJP leaders) had contacted Bruck Pharma to supply
the stock to Maharashtra as the state is facing a shortage of
Remdesivir vials. We even informed the state FDA minister
about it and approached the Union government seeking necessary
permissions," he said.
    Some Maharashtra BJP leaders went to Daman recently to
meet Bruck Pharma officials, requesting them to sell their
exportable stock in Maharashtra, Fadnavis said.
    "With shortage of #Remdesivir, last night
@MumbaiPolice rightly fulfilled their duty to check any supply
malpractices/hoarding. The real Q is: Can any BJP leader,
without any info to State govt/Local authorities/Police,
procure lakhs of lifesaving drugs @PMOIndia? It's a new low,"
Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil tweeted.
    Referring to Fadnavis' claim that the BJP bought that
stock to distribute to people, activist Saket Gokhale wanted
to know "how did a private individual like Fadnavis procure
Remdesivir stock from Gujarat when the sale is allowed only to
the government".
    "Why didn't Fadnavis inform the state govt of the
supplier & help procure the stock through state channels? In
the midst of a severe shortage, why was BJP hoarding 4.75
crores worth of Remdesivir in their party office (just like in
Gujarat)?" Gokhale tweeted.
    "And most importantly - while @nawabmalikncp ji showed
yesterday that Central govt had stopped supplies of Remdesivir
to Maharashtra govt, then how was BJP's Fadnavis allowed to
procure it sneakily without informing the state govt? That too
stock worth 4.75 crores?" he tweeted.
    The political slugfest started on Saturday morning
when Maharashtra minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik
alleged the Centre was pressurising some Remdesivir producers
to not sell their stock in Maharashtra.
    Joining state BJP leaders, two Central ministers hit
back at the Maharashtra government, calling these allegations
"a lie" and termed them an attempt to politicise the pandemic.
    Fadnavis said, "Malik and some ministers have nothing
to do with the troubles of people suffering from coronavirus
pandemic. They are more interested in indulging in politics."
    Malik on Sunday wondered why were top BJP leaders in
Maharashtra "rushing to help" the pharma company director.
"Are they his lawyers," he added. PTI DC ND VT
VT VT

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)