Two men were arrested by Gurugram FDA officials on July 18 and 19, 2026, for allegedly selling fake Telma-AM blood pressure tablets over an interstate network across Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
During the investigation that began after a tip-off on July 16, authorities seized 178 strips of counterfeit medicines. They identified a wholesaler based in Delhi and an alleged supplier based in Patna involved in selling the fake drugs.
On July 16, 2026, the city drug control office received a tip-off about counterfeit medicines being sold at certain medical stores across the city.
The tip-off came from a brand-protection associate of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, who alerted drug control officials about suspected spurious Telma-AM tablets circulating in the local market. According to investigators, the tablets being sold were Telmisartan 40 mg + Amlodipine 5 mg.
District Drug Controller Amandeep Chauhan informed FDA Commissioner Manoj Kumar and State Drug Controller Ripan Mehta, after which the investigation started.
Senior district drug controller Gurcharan Singh led a joint team, including Chauhan, Mukesh Kumar, and Suresh Kumar, to examine purchase bills and stock records at several medical stores. This paper trail led the investigators to a Delhi-based wholesale firm, Shree Balaji Pharmaporium in Okhla, that had supplied the medicine.
According to court records reported by The Indian Express, investigators traced the supply chain from two pharmacies in Gurugram to a distributor, Lucky Pharma Logistic Private Limited, in Udyog Vihar Phase VI. The trail subsequently led to Madan Medical Agencies and the Okhla-based wholesaler.
The FDA team then coordinated with city police through ACP Dharamvir Singh and raided the Okhla premises, where they discovered that the firm had supplied the suspected counterfeit drugs.
On July 18, 2026, Dwivedi was arrested and then produced before the city court, which remanded him to three days of police custody.
According to the reports, the interrogation of Dwivedi led the police to the alleged source of the medicines, Zubair, the supplier. On July 19, Zubair was arrested in Moradabad.
According to the reports, Zubair was earlier arrested in a similar case of counterfeit medicines in October 2025 and also spent 22 days in Tihar Jail before he got bail.
Drug Controller Amandeep said that the accused told them that they had to sell counterfeit medicines because customers demanded heavy discounts that the real medicines could not offer.
Chauhan said, “We have recovered 178 strips of counterfeit Telma-AM so far. Our investigation shows that around 1,700 strips were procured. Each strip has an MRP of about Rs 350. We are now tracing where the remaining stock was supplied.”
The recovered stock carried Batch No. 05251007A and bore the label of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd’s manufacturing facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. When the drug department contacted Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, the company confirmed in writing the batch of medicines was not manufactured by them.
According to the report, the confirmation from the manufacturer establishes the medicine as a spurious drug under Section 17B(e) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, an offence that carries strict penalties under Sections 27(a) and 27(c).
Telma-AM is usually prescribed for hypertension; officials warned that buying the counterfeit version can cause health issues for patients who have hypertension.
The department urged hospitals, pharmacies and the public to buy medicines from authorized distributors and to file a complaint with the police if they find any issues with the medicine or even with its packaging.
Haryana health minister Aarti Rao had instructed the department to be very strict towards any person putting public health at risk by manufacturing or selling spurious drugs, senior district drug controller Gurcharan said. “Anyone found involved in such activities will face stringent legal action under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and other applicable laws,” Singh said.
Another accused named Vipin Kumar was arrested by officials on September 21 and Pardeep Kumar on September 25.
On September 28, the FDA arrested Maneesh Singh, director of Aushi Immunosciences Private Limited in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, for allegedly manufacturing the tablets illegally, bringing the total number of arrests to five. Investigators traced the supply chain to the facility, where they seized two rotary tablet presses, an Alu-Alu blister packaging machine and remnants of blister packaging foil matching the Telma-AM strips.
In a report published by The Indian Express on October 27, 2026, it was reported that Maneesh Singh and Dwivedi have been granted bail, but the court expressed concerns regarding the lack of a Forensic Science Laboratory report from officials. The drug department will be opposing Dwivedi's bail order.
Separately, another counterfeit medicine investigation in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, led to major drug seizures and a bribery allegation involving a local businessman.
In a similar counterfeit medicine case in Agra, a businessman was arrested on August 23, 2025, after he allegedly tried to bribe enforcement officials with Rs 1 crore to stop an investigation into his pharmaceutical business.
A combined force of the Kanpur Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), Basti Drug Department, and local police carried out a raid in Agra's drug market on Friday. The operation was conducted by 30-35 officials. Medical stores and warehouses owned by businessman Himanshu Agarwal were searched and sealed. Over Rs 3 crore worth of medicines were seized, according to a TOI report on August 24, 2025.
On August 23, Himanshu Agarwal allegedly came to the medical shop carrying around Rs. 1 crore cash and tried to bribe the drug department officials.
According to the report, he was taken into custody after the officers found him allegedly bribing the officials.
Police transported the seized medicines to the Kotwali police station and arrested Agarwal under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Authorities also notified the Income Tax and Vigilance departments about the incident. The drug department had also sent samples of 15 medicines for laboratory testing, with their authenticity awaiting confirmation at the time.
The investigation has intensified since Himanshu Agarwal was arrested in August 2025. In late 2026, authorities discovered that he was part of an active interstate counterfeit drug ring. While Agarwal was granted bail in December 2025 and his licence was withdrawn from his firm, he allegedly continued to operate, renting an illegal warehouse in Agra under his father's name.
In late September 2026, police and drug authorities raided a property in the Dhanauli area of Agra and recovered Rs. 5 crore worth of counterfeit multinational drugs, arresting three accomplices. Shortly after, four sacks of discarded counterfeit drugs were recovered from Hathras Road.
Another Rs. 5 crore worth of drugs were found in a dry well in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, and linked back to Agarwal. Agarwal was subsequently arrested in connection with the Bharatpur recovery. By October 2, police had arrested five people in the case, including Agarwal and four other accused.
In an update published by Amar Ujala on November 12, 2026, the investigation into the medicines recovered remained pending. The authorities had collected 41 samples for laboratory testing and sought information from five pharmaceutical companies about whether the recovered medicines were manufactured by them. As the laboratory reports and company responses were still awaited, the investigation had stalled.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)