An Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) busted a racket with an Odisha link and seized spurious drugs worth Rs 7.35 crore and Rs 4 lakh in cash on Thursday following multiple raids. Based on inputs provided by the Odisha health department, the STF raided a house under the Sigra police station in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The STF arrested a Bulandshahr resident, Ashok Kumar, as spurious drugs seized from Odisha’s Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts were allegedly found at his house. Based on his confession, a godown under the Lahartara police station near Varanasi was raided on Thursday, leading to the seizure of a huge quantity of spurious drugs worth around Rs 7.35 crore, officials said. The raids helped to bust one of the biggest spurious drug rackets in the recent past, said a statement issued by the health department. In mid-February, the government sought help from the Uttar Pradesh government to detect an interstate spurious drug racket after its links were found in Varanasi. It formed an interstate investigation team, and health secretary Shalini Pandit spoke to her Uttar Pradesh counterpart. On January 17, the government booked a chemist shop owner in Bargarh and three suppliers in Varanasi for supplying spurious drugs. A day later, another complaint was filed against another drugstore owner in Jharsuguda and the two suppliers in Varanasi. After suspicious medicines were seized from places such as Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Bargarh and Sambalpur during regular checks by the drug control administration, the health secretary had directed officials to intensify vigilance.
