Two arrested in Thane for selling fake BP medicines worth Rs 9 lakh

Maharashtras Thane Police have arrested two men for allegedly selling counterfeit blood pressure medicines worth Rs 9 lakh by mimicking the name and packaging of a popular brand officials said on Wednesday reported PTIAccording to a release from Kalyan police the accused marketed fake ldquoTelma AMrdquo tablets a combination of Telmisartan 40 mg and Amlodipine 5 mg using the license of ldquoShriram Pharmardquo and passed them off as products of the original manufacturerThe Food and Drug Administration FDA conducted a raid on January 20 and seized 2795 strips of fake ldquoTelma AMrdquo tablets valued at Rs 894400 the release said reported PTIFollowing the FDArsquos complaint a case was registered at Manpada police station in Dombivli under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules 1945The prime accused identified as Pankaj Radheshyam Upadhyay 33 a distributor and medical representative residing in Dombivli East was arrested on January 21Distributor aware of threat to patients yet sold tabletsldquoThe accused Upadhyay was aware that the said medicine was fake and that its consumption could pose a serious threat to human life yet he continued to distribute itrdquo the release stated reported PTIDuring the investigation police learnt that the stock of duplicate medicines had allegedly been supplied by Vivek Ajaykumar Rai 35 a resident of Kandivali East in Mumbai He was arrested on February 16 police saidFurther investigation is underway under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone III Atul Zende and Assistant Commissioner of Police Dombivli Division Suhas Hemade the release added176 retailers 39 wholesalers lose licences over substandard medicines in MaharashtraEarlier in December 2025 the FDA cancelled the licences of 176 retailers and 39 wholesalers across Maharashtra for selling substandard medicinesIn a written reply to a question raised by BJP MLA Amit Satam and others Zirwal said that as part of a special FDA campaign samples of cough syrups and other medicines were sent for testing and analysis news agency PTI reportedldquoLicences of 176 retailers and 39 wholesalers were cancelled Further 136 retailers and 93 wholesalers were inspected Showcause notices were issued and licences were cancelled for selling substandard cough syrupsrdquo he saidZirwal added that fake cough syrups were detected at drug stores and pharmaceutical companies during the FDA drive in October 2024 Doctors clinical establishments and pharmacists were instructed not to prescribe or sell medicines containing propranolol he said according to PTIHe further stated that 36 samples were tested across the Mumbai Thane Pune Aurangabad and Nagpur divisions of which 34 were found to be substandard The medicines included treatments for hypertension diabetes tuberculosis heart disease and blood purification PTI reported Six samples of a paediatric cough syrup brand were also found to be of inferior qualityWith PTI inputs