A mobile court yesterday busted a fake medicine factory in Amir Market near Mitford Hospital. The owner of the factory had been arrested before in connection with the same offence. Photo: Rashed Shumon A mobile court backed by the Rapid Action Battalion yesterday seized a large quantity of spurious drugs during raids on two factories and three warehouses in the capital's Mitford and Keraniganj. It
also arrested the owner of the factories and warehouses, Mohammad Russel, 30, and directed law enforcers to lodge a case against him under the Special Powers Act. Russel had served a two-year sentence for similar offence, and released from jail recently he resumed his illegal business, said Executive Magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha who led the drive with a team of Rab members and officials of the Directorate General of Drug Administration. “He [Russel] has been producing fake medicines for a decade and claims himself an expert in this matter,” he said. Two of his warehouses and a factory are located at Amir Medicine Market near Babubazar Bridge in Mitford area while another warehouse at a nearby building. The other factory is on the second floor of his three-storey residence in Kushiarbagh of Keraniganj. The drive unearthed fake antibiotics, respiratory medicines, anti-allergenic and different types of nutritional supplements labelled with Square Pharmaceuticals Limited, Beximco Pharma, ACI Ltd and SK+F, the magistrate said. Ostocal D of SK+F, Bextrum Gold of Beximco, Neuro-B of Square and Fluclox of ACI were among the fake drugs. The court also seized foils, labels, packages and medicine making equipment from the factories. Russel told the court that he had been producing Fluclox 500mg antibiotic capsule of ACI at home and that he used to buy foil and packages from a local printing press. While ACI sells a packet of such capsules for Tk 350, he used to charge Tk 200 for it, said the magistrate, adding that unscrupulous small traders from the capital and different parts of the country had bought drugs from him though they knew those were fake. Russel used to work at his factory in Amir Medicine Market even after the market was closed in the evenings, said shop owners in the market. His factories and warehouses had been sealed off two years back, Magistrate Pasha said. Coming out of jail, he broke the padlocks and began trading in fake drugs again. Ohidul Alam, general secretary of Amir Market Medicine Traders' Association, said the market housed about 64 wholesale shops and over 100 warehouses. Being aware of production and sale of spurious drugs in the market, association members had urged in vain the owner of the building housing the market not to rent out shops to traders without knowing their purpose, he added. The wholesale medicine business in Mitford is one of the biggest in the country. There are around 50 small and big markets in the area, which altogether housed some 5,000 shops, said Tofazzal Hossain, president of Amir Market Traders' Association. Advertisement
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