Illegal drug factory manufacturing spurious drugs sealed in Himachal's Baddi

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 2

An illegal drug factory manufacturing spurious drugs was unearthed at Baddi by officials of the Drug Control Administration (DCA) on Thursday evening.

Arya Pharma was authorised to manufacture only nutraceuticals as it had the licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

State Drugs Controller Navneet Marwaha said, “Arya Pharma was under our radar for the past two weeks as we had received information about illegal drug-manufacturing. A drug inspector checked a Swift car that came out of the factory on Thursday evening and found a cache of drugs manufactured in the name of various pharma companies.”

The car was being driven by one Vikrant who did not have the licence for the drugs he was carrying.

Police assistance was sought and the factory raided by a team of drug officials. The raid lasted till 7am on Friday and about 35,000 illegally manufactured tablets and capsules were found manufactured in the name of other pharma companies like Mcleod Pharma, Park Pharma and LV Pharma. Vitamins manufactured in the name of Mcleod Pharma, and leading acidity and joint healing drugs manufactured in the name of firms like Park Pharma and LV Pharma were seized.

The factory has been sealed and the owner told to join the investigation. Action under the Drugs and Cosmetic Act is being taken, said Marwaha.

The factory has been functional since 2016 as per the FSSAI record. Only two employees were found working in the factory when it was raided.

It is the second such case in two years that a unit authorised to manufacture only neutraceuticals was found manufacturing illegal drugs.

Assistant Commissioner, FSSAI, Solan, Arun Chauhan, who also visited the factory, said the licence for neutraceuticals is granted by the central FSSAI based at Ghaziabad. The powers to inspect and grant licence has been entrusted with the central authority after March 31 and they could not inspect such units without informing them. He said information had been sent to the FSSAI at Ghaziabad for further action.

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