New Delhi: Delhi Police have uncovered a sprawling fake medicine manufacturing racket that operated quietly for nearly six years, producing and selling counterfeit prescription creams used by thousands of unsuspecting patients. The Crime Branch arrested two men and seized spurious medicines, chemicals, packaging material, and machinery worth over ₹2.3 crore.
What shocked investigators most was not just the scale of the operation but the fact that the accused had no formal education or pharmaceutical training. Both men had dropped out after Class 8 and learned to manufacture fake medicines using online videos.
The police action followed intelligence inputs about large quantities of fake skin ointments being sold in Delhi’s wholesale medicine markets. During a raid at a godown in Sadar Bazar, officers recovered hundreds of tubes of counterfeit Betnovate C and Clop G creams.
These medicines are commonly prescribed for skin infections, fungal conditions, and inflammation. Because they fall under Schedule H, they should only be sold with a doctor’s prescription. Instead, fake versions were freely circulating through informal supply chains.
Further investigation led police to an illegal manufacturing unit located in Meerpur Hindu village in Ghaziabad’s Loni area. Inside the modest setup, officers found raw chemicals, empty tubes, labels, sealing machines, and mixing equipment used to produce the fake ointments.
Police identified the accused as Gaurav Bhagat and Vishal Gupta. Both had failed Class 8 and never worked in a licensed pharmaceutical unit. According to investigators, Gaurav taught himself how to mix and prepare ointments by watching YouTube videos.
He later purchased basic machinery from Anand Parvat and began production with Vishal. Over time, the pair refined their process and scaled up operations, sourcing raw materials from different states and distributing finished products across India.
The manufacturing cost of one tube was barely ₹1.50 to ₹2. The accused sold each tube to wholesalers for around ₹15, while customers eventually paid between ₹70 and ₹100, believing they were buying genuine branded medicine.
Investigators said the accused were aware that the medicines were fake but continued production because of high profits and low risk of detection. The racket ran uninterrupted for years, exposing countless users to unknown chemical compositions that could worsen skin conditions or cause serious side effects.
Drug inspectors from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh later confirmed that none of the seized products were manufactured by licensed pharmaceutical companies.
Police seized approximately 358 kilograms of fake medicines and raw materials during the raids. Officials said the profits from the racket were used to purchase property and other assets, which may now be attached under legal provisions.
Authorities are expanding the investigation to identify distributors, transporters, and retailers who helped push the counterfeit creams into markets nationwide.
Police officials stressed that the case highlights the growing danger of counterfeit medicines and the ease with which untrained individuals can misuse online platforms to endanger public health.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)