Surat: A medical shop owner in Surat was arrested on October 14 because he was allegedly repackaging veterinary medicine and reselling it as a paediatric tonic in the city.
He was allegedly repackaging veterinary liver supplements into small bottles and selling them as a medicine for kids.
According to the police, the medical shop owner relabelled the veterinary supplement called Himalaya Liv.52.
On Wednesday, the police said that the relabelled medicine was sold as a kid’s tonic and sold for double the price in the market. The police also said that the veterinary supplement is a health hazard for humans.
Following a Tuesday raid on the Shantinath Medical Store in Gopipura, authorities arrested its owner, Mohammad Sajid Ibrahim Mulla. A joint operation was carried out by the Food and Drugs Control Administration and the Surat Special Operations Group, as confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajdeepsinh Nakum on Wednesday.
Authorities recovered items totalling over Rs 31,000 in value, including a mobile phone (Rs 30,000), a five-litre container of animal feed supplement (Rs 1,050), and a 60 ml bottle of pediatric drops (Rs 140).
The police also recovered seven empty bottles with no labels, seven caps, seven stoppers, and six label stickers for the 60 ml bottles.
According to the reports, the accused allegedly bought 5 large cans of the veterinary liver supplement named 'Himalaya Liv.52 Protec Liquid Veterinary Feed Supplement', and then filled them into small bottles of 60ml and 100ml.
To deceive buyers, he allegedly used fake labels of the children's medication Himalaya Liv.52 Drops, attempting to market the bottles as safe pediatric medicine.
According to police, the accused allegedly prepared and sold around 1,000 small bottles over the preceding year. He reportedly bought a five-litre can of the veterinary supplement for Rs 1,050 and sold the repackaged 60 ml bottles for Rs 140 each. Police said that one five-litre can could yield approximately 83 bottles.
The counterfeit labels allegedly included dosage instructions for children to take 10 to 20 drops three times daily, as directed by a doctor. Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajdeepsinh Nakum said the stickers had been printed at a local photocopy shop.
As reported by HT, the DCP said, "He would extract the liquid from large one-litre and five-litre cans of 'Himalaya Liv.52 Protec Liquid Veterinary Feed Supplement' and manually fill it into 60 ml and 100 ml bottles. He would then affix counterfeit labels for 'Himalaya Liv.52 Drops' onto these bottles."
The accused used to sell counterfeit medicine for twice the price. During the raid, the police also seized other items worth Rs. 31,195.
An FIR has been registered by the Athwa police against the accused under sections 123, 125, 336, and 278 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The police have appealed to the public to seek medical help if anyone has consumed the medicine and suffered any health issues.
Police also advised consumers to verify the authenticity and quality of medicines purchased from medical stores with their treating doctors and to take medicines strictly as prescribed.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)
