COVID-19: Four arrested for blackmarketing Remdesivir drug

Hyderabad: Four people were arrested by the Rachakonda police on Monday for illegally procuring and selling the COVID-19 antiviral drug Remdesivir at higher prices in black. The accused were nabbed by sleuths of the special operations team, LB nagar zone.

According to the Rachakonda police, the accused have been identified as Nomula Praveen, Maraboyana Kondal, K Ramesh and Jogu Praveen. The police seized three Remdesivjr injections and five mobile phones from their possession and booked them under sec 51 (B) Disaster management act under the Meerpet police station limits. 

According to the cops, the main accused accused Nomula Praveen was working as a billing manager in Diya hospital, Bairamalguda. The second accused was working as pharmacist at Children’s hospital at Malakpet. The other two accused Ramesh and Praveen used to work as lab technicians and pharmacists in Shyam Hospital, BN Reddy Nagar. 

Taking advantage of the ongoing shortage of the Remdesivir injections across the country, some of the medical shop owners and medical distributors have been trying to make a quick buck by black marketing the Remdesivir injections since they come into possession for general sale.  

The actual price per a vial of Remdesivir injection is Rs.3490, but in black it is being sold at a price of Rs. 30,000 to Rs.35,000. Because of lack of an alternative, desperate families of COVID-19 patients are forced to buy them in black in order to save the lives of their loved ones. Having contacts with medical distributors, the four accused collaborated to black market the essential COVID-19 drug. 

On Monday, while going for one of their illegal transactions, the accused were apprehended by the sleuths of SOT LB nagar team along with Meerpet police near Shyam Hospital BN Reddy Nagar. In Hyderabad, several people have been arrested in various places for this crime. The black marketing of the Remdesivir drug is now rampant.