The arrests came after an FIR was filed Thursday evening against five company officials, including two of its directors, over a complaint from a drug inspector in the Central organization for the control of drug standards (CDSCO), they said.
Police said the directors were at large and a search was underway to arrest them.
Central and Uttar Pradesh pharmaceutical authorities had checked samples of Marion Biotech products and found 22 of them “of non-standard quality” (adulterated and fake), according to the complainant drug inspector.
“Three people associated with Marion Biotechwhich is located in Sector 67, were arrested today by local officials from the Phase 3 Police Station. These people were engaged in the preparation and sale of counterfeit drugs which caused great harm to the public,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central noida) Rajiv Dixit She said.
“In addition to the three suspects who were arrested, there are two other directors of the company who are being searched for and they too will be arrested soon. By their act, these people were endangering human life and human health “Dixit said.
The official added that a full legal investigation will be conducted into the case.
Vijay Kumar, head of the Phase 3 police station, said those arrested were identified as Tuhin Bhattacharya, head of the operation; Atul Rawat, industrial chemist; and Mool Singh, analytical chemist.
The runaway directors of the firm who have been signed on are Jaya Jain and Sachin Jain, Kumar said.
The FIR was registered under sections 274 (adulteration of drugs), 275 (sale of adulterated drugs), 276 (sale of drug as a different drug or medical preparation) of the Indian Penal Code as well as section 17 (misbranded drugs ) and related violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.
Marion Biotech came under scrutiny in December last year over its Dok-1 cough syrup that is suspected to have led to the deaths of 18 children who consumed it in Uzbekistan, after which the CDSCO launched an investigation into the matter.
The company’s manufacturing license was suspended in January after inspections at its premises by central and state anti-drug authorities following the dispute.
On January 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a “medical product alert”, referring to two substandard (contaminated) products, identified in Uzbekistan and reported on December 22, 2022.
“The two products are AMBRONOL syrup and DOK-1 Max syrup. The declared manufacturer of both products is MARION BIOTECH PVT. LTD, (Uttar Pradesh, India). To date, the declared manufacturer has not provided any guarantees to WHO on the safety and quality of these products,” WHO said at the time.
“Laboratory analysis of samples of both products, conducted by the National Quality Control Laboratories of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, found that both products contained unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and/or ethylene glycol as contaminants ‘ he had observed.
(with PTI inputs)
