Visakhapatnam: In true filmi style, officials apprehend two for black-marketing `Bevacizumab'

Visakhapatnam :It seemed to have been pulled straight out of Bollywood crime thriller. Officials posing as decoy customers arrested two persons for black-marketing Tocilizumab and Bevacizumab injections in the state. The arrested persons were identified as Dadi Prasanna Kumar and S Ramya Krishna. The duo was selling Tocilizumab for Rs 3 lakh.

Officials from Drug Control Administration and vigilance and enforcement department posed as decoy customers and arrested the duo red-handed when they were black-marketing Tocilizumab and Bevacizumab injections.

Officials said drugs inspector (vigilance) along with CI of vigilance and enforcement posed as attendants and approached Prasanna Kumar. He told them that Tocilizumab was not available. However, a similar drug `Bevacizumab' is available which costs Rs 75,000 per injection. He offered two injections for Rs 1.5 lakh.

Drugs Inspector (Vigilance) Suneeta posing as the patient's daughter agreed to that. Then a woman identified as Ramya Krishna contacted her on phone and told her to wait at Santhipuram in Visakhapatnam city.

When Prasanna Kumar and Ramya Krishna were handing over the injections to Suneeta, a team of officials including P Kalyani, Drugs Inspector Visakhapatnam (sales) and Ch Tirupati Rao, CI (Vigilance and Enforcement) swopped on them and seized two injections from their possession. They were without license and violation of 18(c) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Prasanna Kumar is working as a medical representative. Ramya Krishna assisted him in the illegal sale of injections at exorbitant prices. The MRP of each injection is Rs 49,000.