Amid several Indian states facing a shortage of Remdesivir, the Kanpur police acting on a tip-off of the Military Intelligence Unit, on Thursday arrested three people with 265 vials of injections of the anti-viral drug in Babu Purwa area, said deputy commissioner of police (DCP), South Kanpur Nagar, Ravina Tyagi confirmed.
Remdesivir is an investigational antiviral drug used for treating coronavirus disease. Speaking to ANI, DCP (South) Ravina Tyagi said, “265 vials of Remdesivir injection have been seized and its genuineness is being checked.”
“Prashant Shukla of Naubasta’s Pashupati Nagar and Baktauri Purwa resident Mohan Soni, were arrested with the vials wrapped in a saree packet. On the information provided by the two, STF sleuths arrested Sachin Kumar of Yamuna Nagar Haryana,” said DCP Tyagi.
According to the police, the above-named persons revealed during interrogation that they had received this supply from West Bengal. Tyagi stated, “Prashant and Mohan said that they were supposed to be paid by a person from West Bengal but the person, instead of paying, asked them to take 265 Remdesivir vials from him and deliver them further to one Sachin of Yamuna Nagar, Haryana in exchange for money.”
As per the police, the batch number on the vials was found to be missing and the arrested persons could not produce the bill of the vials. “We have seized the mobile phones of the trio to scan call detail record to ascertain their nexus,” added Tyagi.
