In separate incidents, the Delhi Police has arrested five people from different parts of Delhi for their alleged involvement in black-marketing of Remdesivir injection amid its heightened demand due to surging coronavirus cases.
The first set of arrests was made in south Delhi, where three people were nabbed, while two more were taken into custody in west Delhi. The three arrested in south Delhi have been identified as Likhit Gupta (30), a resident of Patparganj, Akash Verma (23), who lives in Daryaganj, and Anuj Jain (40), a resident of Geeta Colony.
According to Atul Kumar Thakur, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South district, they were arrested after police got a tip-off on Sunday that two persons were going near the India Habitat Center from Khan Market for selling Remdesivir vials at a very high price.
“Thereafter, a trap was laid near IHC, Lodhi Road, and a car was checked. On searching and frisking, four vials of Remdesivir injection were recovered from the possession of Gupta and Verma,” said the DCP.
“The two told the police that they used to sell the vials at Rs 70,000 each to needy people. The third accused, Anuj Jain, used to supply them the Remdesivir injection at high rates to further sell them in the black-market,” said the DCP adding that later, Jain was also arrested with three vials of Remdesivir injection which he brought to sell to Verma.
Gupta has a medical shop at Daryaganj and Jain has one at Chandni Chowk. Verma is a jeweller by profession, police said, adding that a total of seven vials of Remdesivir injections and one car were recovered from their possession.
In another instance, police arrested two persons in west Delhi for allegedly black-marketing the drug.
On Sunday around 4 pm, the staff at Tilak Nagar police station got a tip-off and they nabbed Gurpreet Singh (29), a resident of Tilak Nagar, and Anuj Jaiswal (30), a resident of Geeta Colony, who were allegedly involved in black marketing of Remdesivir injections, police said.
Singh has a spare parts business in Mayapuri, while Jaiswal works at a hospital in Krishna Nagar, said police, adding that two Remdesivir vials were recovered from their possession.
With a surge in coronavirus cases, Remdesivir injections are currently in high demand in the country even though experts have underlined its limited scope in treating COVID-19 patients.