NCB arrests health official for illegal supply of tramadol

The Enforcement Directorate is also likely to investigate the financial networks in the racket.

A senior NCB official has confirmed the development while adding that during the probe, the Central agency stumbled upon a big scandal in which many heads may roll during further course of investigations.

In the present case, it has also nominated Aarti Malhotra, wife of Dr Jatinder Malhotra, who was already arrested in the case.

Till now, around eight persons have been arrested by the NCB. It has also frozen properties worth Rs 25 crore belonging to Dr Jatinder Malhotra and Aarti Malhotra.

Apart from Rakesh Sharma and Dr Jatinder Malhotra, the NCB has arrested Dr Rajesh Kumar, Dr Parveen, Baudh Raj, Dr Rajinder Rajan, a web journalist, and a pharmaceutical company owner Deepak Bhandari and his brother Amit Bhandari, in the case till now.

Talking to The Tribune, an NCB official, requesting anonymity, disclosed that investigators have uncovered a major scandal involving several private hospitals. These hospitals, which had earlier faced complaints of misusing Ayushman cards, were allegedly exonerated after paying bribes.

Now, the ED would also hold a probe into the case. As per NCB officials, profits from drug trafficking were channelled into real estate and other ventures to disguise their illicit origins.

The NCB was also looking into their foreign links in the case.

The case

The case pertains to the investigations in the alleged illegal supply of tramadol tablets to private hospitals beyond their allotted quota.

The Central agency had arrested earlier arrested a web journalist and a pharmaceutical company owner Deepak Bhandari in the case. His brother Amit Bhandari and two private hospital doctors were also arrested on May 6 this year. Several other members of the Bhandari family were named in the case as well.

Amit Bhandari was first arrested on May 2 following the seizure of over 30,000 tramadol tablets, a prescription painkiller often misused as a narcotic. The next day, Dr Malhotra and Dr Rajan were arrested after 2,000 tramadol tablets were recovered from each of them without valid licences to store such psychotropic drugs. \B