Delhi Doctor Among 3 Arrested For Black Marketing Remdesivir In UP: Cops

Three people, including a doctor working in a Delhi hospital, have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Noida for allegedly selling Remdesivir injections at black market rates to needy people amid COVID-19 crisis, officials said.

Senior police official (Crime) Abhishek Singh said the accused were held with three vials of Remdesivir by officials of the Crime Branch and Sector 24 police stations following a tip-off on Thursday.

"Those held have been identified as Mujibur Rahman, Hamza and Dr. Imam, who says he works in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Delhi. Hamza runs a money transfer shop in Ghaziabad, while Mujibur Rahman works at a pharmacy in Noida," the officer said.

The trio would buy back unused Remdesivir injections from people who had bought the crucial drug for COVID-19 patients in their family or among known ones from open market or hospitals at cheap rates and then sell it in the black market, he said.

"They would then sell it to needy people at the rate of Rs 35,000 per vial and share the profit among themselves. So far, they have sold around a dozen injections," Singh said.

The accused are being further interrogated and other details being gathered from them, he added.

Police said they have impounded a Maruti Brezza being used by the trio and seized their mobile phones and three vials of Remdesivir.

An FIR has been lodged against them and legal proceedings initiated, they added.

Around half a dozen people have been arrested in Noida and Greater Noida over the last 10 days for alleged black marketing of Remdesivir against its normal pricing which does not go beyond Rs 3,500. The antiviral medication is not easily available in open market amid a surge in its demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.