ED freezes Rs 21 crore in bank accounts of Dr Amit Bansal, kin, de-addiction centres

In this connection, the ED had on July 18 conducted coordinated raids at four locations in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Barnala and Mumbai, the official said.

According to ED sources, the agency is examining “how drugs meant exclusively for registered addicts were diverted and sold illegally” and “how the proceeds from these sales were laundered”.

The ED took over the case from the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, which had initiated the investigation and arrested Dr Bansal around seven months ago.

Dr Bansal, a Chandigarh-based physician, was accused of misusing Adnoc-N, a regulated combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone, prescribed for opioid addiction treatment, by selling it to non-registered drug users, ED sources said.

Though Dr Bansal is currently out on bail, all 22 of the centres in Punjab and one in Chandigarh have been shut down, the ED official said, adding that his Chandigarh centre was also sealed during the ED raid on July 18.

So far, four FIRs have been registered against his centres in various districts, including Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Patiala, the official said, adding that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested him in Chandigarh before handing the case over to the ED.

According to ED sources, thousands of tablets were found missing from Dr Bansal’s centres. During inspections, Dr Bansal reportedly claimed that the unused medicines had been returned to the pharmaceutical companies from which they were procured — a claim now under scrutiny, said ED sources.

In earlier raids, ED sources said, the agency seized thousands of restricted tablets and over Rs 90,000 in cash from a Ludhiana hospital and other facilities linked to Dr Bansal. Ludhiana-based Drug Inspector Ruppreet Kaur was also named as a co-accused, they added.

The official said the investigation uncovered further irregularities: at a hospital in Nakodar (Jalandhar), nearly 1.44 lakh tablets were found missing from the inventory.

The agency alleged that Dr Bansal attempted to cover up the discrepancy with the help of departmental staff and certain officials.

“With a clear money laundering angle emerging, the ED’s July 18 raids were aimed at collecting digital records and financial evidence related to the illegal sale of controlled substances,” the official said, confirming the “seizure of several incriminating documents and electronic devices, which are currently under forensic examination”.

According to ED authorities, more arrests are likely as the investigation progresses.

Earlier, the former deputy commissioner of Jalandhar had conducted a probe into alleged misappropriation at Dr Bansal’s Nakodar de-addiction centre. That inquiry, too, found several irregularities in the centre’s operations.