Water sold in remdesivir vials for Rs 28,000 to Covid patients in Maharashtra

Nagpur, April 21

Two men were held on Tuesday for allegedly selling Remdesivir vials filled with water for Rs 28,000 in Sakkardara area of Nagpur, police said.

Abhilash Petkar (28) and Aniket Nandeshwar (21), both working as X-Ray technicians, sold two such bogus vials to a person whose kin was admitted in a COVID-19 facility here by first quoting a price of Rs 40,000 and then bringing it down to Rs 28,000, said Inspector Satyawan Mane.

"The relative found something suspicious about the vials. He approached police and we nabbed the two after laying a trap at a flyover here in the evening. Searches are underway in their houses in New Subedar Layout and Manewada as part of the probe," the Sakkardara police station official added.

The drug, which is a key medicine in the treatment of some COVID-19 patients, is at the centre of several such fraudulent acts amid a rise in demand due to the spike in cases. PTI