IIT-BHU graduate held in ‘fake’ cancer drug racket

NEW DELHI: An IIT-BHU graduate was arrested for his alleged involvement in a ‘fake’ cancer drug racket on Wednesday, a day after the Delhi Police nabbed seven people in connection with the case. Aditya Krishna (23), who was arrested from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, worked as a supplier of spurious cancer drugs in Pune and the NCR region, police said. The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested seven people, including Neeraj Chauhan (38), from several locations in the national capital for allegedly manufacturing and supplying spurious 'life-saving' cancer chemotherapy drugs.

According to police, Krishna, a BTech graduate from IIT-BHU, operated a chemist shop in Muzaffarpur and used to purchase fake cancer drugs from Chauhan. Krishna was brought to Delhi and was produced before a court, the official said. ‘He will be taken in police custody for further investigation." The police on Tuesday arrested seven people, who were allegedly involved in manufacturing and supplying spurious 'life-saving' cancer chemotherapy drugs.

According to police, Chauhan, a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, has done a vocational course in medical transcription from a private institute in Delhi. "He has worked as a manager in the Oncology Department of several reputed hospitals in Delhi and Gurgaon from 2006-2022,” police said in a statement. “In 2022, he started working with the mastermind of the racket Viphil Jain. Since then, he has grown exponentially," they added.

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Chauhan also runs his own medical tourism company and lured foreigners who come to India for cancer treatment on the pretext of providing affordable chemo injections and leveraging his medical sector expertise. He would then mint money from them in Dollars, police said. During the raids across Delhi and Gurgaon, police seized USD 18,000, they said.

The police are currently collecting information on how many people have been duped by the gang to date. So far, eight members of the gang have been arrested and an FIR has been lodged against them under the Indian Penal Code sections 274 (adulteration of drugs), 275 (sale of adulterated drugs), 276 (sale of drug as a different drug or preparation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intentions).