Amritsar police bust inter-state pharma opioid network; 6 held

A minor seizure of just 35 tablets of Tramadol has led the Amritsar police to an illegal pharma opioid supply network originating from Haridwar in Uttarakhand and the recovery of a big haul of the habit-forming drug, raw material and the drug money.

The two-week-long investigation into the initial seizure landed the police in two drug manufacturing units -- Lucent Biotech Ltd and Recall Lifesciences -- at Roorkee, Haridwar, which were allegedly involved in the illegal supply of the medicinal drugs in Punjab markets.

So far, the police have arrested six persons and recovered 74,465 Tramadol tablets, 50 Alprazolam pills and 325 kg of Tramadol raw material apart from Rs 7.65 lakh drug money.

Those arrested have been identified as Bikram, the owner of Recall Lifesciences; Hari Kishore, the plant manager at Lucent Biotech Ltd; Kulwinder Singh, a medical store owner in Kathunangal; Manish Kumar Arora; and Pooran Jatav.

Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said on July 16, one Ravinder Singh was nabbed with 35 Tramadol tablets. His interrogation led the police to Kulwinder, from whom 600 tablets were recovered. His interrogation further led the police to Manish and Pooran. The police seized around 69,600 tablets from Pooran's residence in Namak Mandi.

After this, a joint team of the Amritsar police and drug inspectors raided the pharma units in Roorkee and seized a massive haul of Tramadol and raw material. Notably, the seized Tramadol strips had a disclaimer, which read “Government Supply Only – Not for Sale,” indicating illegal diversion of medical stock. The Police Commissioner said the units were sealed and their records were being scrutinised.

During interrogation, Hari Kishore could not produce any record, stock register or sale record to the raiding team. He admitted to have printed the disclaimer on the tablet strips and sold them to the other unit. The police are conducting raids to nab more persons involved in the illegal supply network.