How Delhi’s Rs 25-crore fake cancer drug scam was busted

The campaign against counterfeit drugs lasted two years.

New Delhi:

Delhi Police today arrested four more people in connection with the fake cancer medicines scam, taking the total number of arrests to 12. According to police, the accused Rohit, Jitendra, Majeed and Sajid were all employed in the oncology department in Delhi. Hospitals in all capitals across the country.

The four accused were allegedly working with Neeraj Chauhan, one of the masterminds behind the operation.

Recent arrests have shed light on the gang’s modus operandi. Instead of administering real chemotherapy to patients in need, the defendants filled empty bottles with antifungal drugs and passed them off as life-saving cancer drugs. Police found evidence that the gang’s reach extended well beyond Delhi’s borders, with links to buyers not only in India but also in China and the United States.

According to the police, the fake medicines sold were worth over Rs 25 crore.

2 years of operation

The campaign against counterfeit drugs lasted two years.

Viphil Jain, one of the key figures in the gang, planned the entire operation from his two flats in DLF Capital Greens in Delhi’s Moti Nagar. Jain had previous ties to medical shops and oversaw the production of counterfeit cancer drugs. His colleague Suraj Shat filled empty bottles with antifungal drugs and sold them as life-saving cancer drugs.

More than 7,000 injections of these fake medicines were sold in India, China and the United States, with prices ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 3 lakh per bottle.

In addition to the capping machine and empty bottles, a large amount of cash and packaging materials were also seized from the premises.

Neeraj Chauhan used his managerial position in the oncology departments of various hospitals to collaborate with Jain to peddle these fake drugs. His cousin Tushar, a lab technician, assisted in the distribution process.

Komal Tiwari and Abhinay Kohli, employees of a cancer hospital in Delhi, were responsible for supplying empty bottles to Jain from the hospital.

Aditya Krishna, an IIT BHU graduate who owns a medical shop, is also linked to the crime syndicate, police said, adding that he was in Muzaffarpur, Bihar Arrested.