VIJAYAWADA: Police arrested a gang of seven medical distributors in Vijayawada for allegedly selling
Remdesivir — a drug much in demand among
Covid-19
patients — at exorbitant prices on Monday.
The accused were identified as: Mandepudi Mohan Krishna of Penamaluru, Maturi Srinivas Kumar of Kothapet, Yeruva Anantha Reddy of Bhavanipuram, Arigela Raja of Ramavarappadu, Gummadi Suresh of Kanuru, Gollapudi Tarun Kumar of Kanuru and Mineni Veerandra Sivanath of Kanuru.
According to Vijayawada city police commissioner B Sreenivasulu, Patamata police received a complaint from a G Hitesh Kumar who said that a friend of his, Sai Phani, was desperately looking for Remdesivir after his father was hospitalised with Covid-19.
Phani met Mohan Krishna, who works at a pharmacy and is the main accused in the case. Krishna allegedly demanded Rs 28,000 for a vial which is 500% more than the original cost of Remdesivir — Rs 4,800.
Desperate for the drug, Phani paid the amount only to later find out that the drug he was given had expired. Phani demanded his money back but the accused refused. Later, Phani approached other distributors including Ananta Reddy and other accused who charged Rs 1.4 lakh for four injections (Rs 35,000 per vial).
The seven accused have been arrested under Section 420 of IPC (cheating) and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.