BENGALURU, INDIA, September 14, 2026 — A Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising Bengaluru police and Drug Control Department has discovered a counterfeit drug network that was allegedly supplying fake cancer medicines and other critical medicines, including ICU injections, to over 90 hospitals and clinics in Bengaluru, offering them at a 50% discount.
The officials raided a pharmacy, Krupa Healthcare, an establishment near Minerva Circle under suspicion of storing and distributing these counterfeit medicines and arrested its owner Veeresh Kumar Jain on Saturday.
Investigators suspect that expired medicines were placed in new containers and fitted with fake labels designed to resemble those of established pharmaceutical companies.
The probe has also found that inexpensive medicines were allegedly repackaged and marketed under different names.
Krupa Healthcare is suspected to have acted as a distribution point, with the medicines allegedly moving from there to medical shops, hospitals and clinics.
The investigators suspect that the racket may have extended beyond Karnataka. A network of more than 15 medical representatives is also suspected to have facilitated the movement of medicines.
The Karnataka government constituted a six-member SIT to investigate the racket.
C. Vamsikrishna, who is the Joint Commissioner of Police (West) and head of the SIT, said investigators were yet to ascertain the full extent of the suspected interstate distribution network, including the destinations of the medicines and the value of the transactions.
“We have seized bank transaction records, purchase and sale vouchers, and other documents. These are being collated to establish the flow of medicines as well as money,” Vamsi Krishna, Joint Commissioner of Police (West) and head of the SIT said.
Veeresh Kumar was allegedly running the scam for five years, operating from his pharmacy Krupa Healthcare. He has been linked to a man named Prashant, who is the mastermind behind this drug racket. Officials are trying to locate Prashant while he is on the run.
On 18 August, police raided a farmhouse in the Bidadi and Dodderi areas of the Bengaluru South district. The authorities seized Rs 5 crore worth of counterfeit medicines from the location, long with fake bills, injection-filling equipment and counterfeit labels. Samples of the seized medicines were sent for laboratory testing to verify their chemical composition, sterility and potency.
The seizure prompted the SIT to widen the investigation. Coordinated searches were subsequently conducted at more than 10 locations in multiple states, including Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
Investigators, working backwards from the Bengaluru South case, allegedly traced the supply chain to Krupa Healthcare and Veeresh Kumar.
(Rh/MF/MSM)