DEHRADUN: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttarakhand Police has arrested the alleged mastermind of a sprawling counterfeit drug manufacturing network that has been operational across several Indian states for the past four years. The accused, Devi Dayal Gupta, owner of Dr Mittal Laboratories Pvt Ltd in Delhi, was apprehended in Dehradun on Friday after an intense manhunt.
The arrest follows a statewide crackdown initiated by Director General of Police Deepam Seth, who ordered stringent action against those producing and distributing fake medicines posing serious health risks to consumers. Acting on this directive, STF Chief Navneet Singh Bhullar instructed his team to profile and eliminate these operations.
Seizures Expose Scale of Counterfeit Operations
Earlier, on June 1, the STF had arrested Santosh Kumar in Dehradun and recovered counterfeit packaging and QR labels of renowned pharmaceutical brands. These included GLENMARK (Telma AM, Telma 40), Ipca (ZERO DOL SP), Intas (Gabapin NT), ALKEM (PAN 40, PAN L), Dr Reddy’s (VOVERAN SR 100), and Cadila (CODECTUSS TR Cough Syrup). Subsequent arrests included Naveen Bansal and Aditya Kala.
Investigations revealed that the fake drugs were allegedly manufactured at Dr Mittal Laboratories and factories in Sahaspur before being distributed to Haryana, Rajasthan, and other states. Interrogation of Bansal led the STF to Gupta, a resident of Ashok Vihar, Delhi, who had been absconding since the racket surfaced.
Over 1.4 Crore Fake Tablets and 2 Lakh Capsules Manufactured
According to SSP Bhullar, the factory owned by Gupta allegedly produced an estimated 1.423 crore spurious tablets and over 2 lakh capsules between 2021 and 2024. The list includes:
50.86 lakh Pantoprazole tablets
15 lakh Diclocin SP tablets
7.70 lakh Levocetirizine tablets
33.93 lakh Prochlorperazine tablets
25.54 lakh Amlodipine tablets
6.05 lakh Aceclofenac + Paracetamol tablets
4.50 lakh Telmisartan tablets
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The STF said this breakthrough is crucial in dismantling the larger network and will help prevent further health hazards from counterfeit medications being sold under reputed brand names.