Counterfeit medicines worth Rs 2 crore of top brands seized from Kolkata warehouse

The raid was carried out based on information from a man arrested a few months ago (Representative image)

In a major crackdown, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and West Bengal state drug regulatory authorities have seized an estimated Rs 2 crore-worth counterfeit commonly used drugs of reputed brands from an unlicensed warehouse in Kolkata, Health Ministry officials said Thursday.

One person was arrested from the warehouse in Central Kolkata. He has been sent to judicial custody for 10 days by Bankshall Court, Kolkata.

"During the raid, counterfeit medicines, worth about Rs 2 crore of leading manufacturers such as Sun Pharmaceutical, Alkem, Cipla, Glenmark, GSK, Abbott, Novartis, Dr. Reddy's, Aristo were seized from unlicensed premises situated at 82, Moulana Shaukat Ali Street," a Health Ministry official said.

The counterfeit medicines were carrying labels of reputed brands like Augmentin, Pan-D, Pantocid DSR, Urimax-D, Clavam etc, according to the official.

The raid was conducted on July 8 by a team of officers from CDSCO East Zone with assistance from officials from the Directorate of Drugs Control, West Bengal. "Further investigation in the matter is underway," an official said.

The raid was carried out based on information from a man arrested a few months ago following seizure of spurious and counterfeit drugs of leading manufacturers worth approximately Rs 10 lakh. This raid was conducted following a January 1 complaint at the CDSCO East Zone, Kolkata from Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited regarding sale and storage of suspected spurious (counterfeit) products at SENCO, Bagri Market, Kolkata, an official said.