Bengaluru, May 6 (IANS): The Bengaluru police arrested six persons involved in black-marketing of life saving antiviral drug Remdesivir after carrying out raids in five places in the city on Thursday.
The police has seized 25 vials of Remdesivir from the accused.
According to the police, the arrested are medical representatives Janardhan, Deepak and Lokesh of J.C. Nagar, Johnny of Siddenahalli, Dinesh of Marathhalli and Shankar from Nagarabhavi in Bengaluru.
Police said, these accused used to run the racket using WhatsApp and other social media sites, where they put out messages that they have additional stock of Remdesivir vials, which they wanted to sell at a premium rate.
"Their modus operandi was simple. On WhatsApp channels they used to say that they purchased the medicine for their relatives, but it is not required now as they were either cured or died. Therefore they were selling it. As they had procured it at higher rates, they wanted to sell it at the 'same price'. However, close watch on social media sites by the Bengaluru north police, discovered hidden mischievousness behind gullible looking advertisements, as all these advertisements were sourced through same number in most cases," the police explained.
After gathering enough leads, the police added that they deployed decoys and nabbed one of them while all other were picked up subsequently.
The police has registered a case and is investigating the matter.