BILASPUR: Police yesterday arrested a director of a pharmaceutical company who has been on the run since 2014 after a case was registered against him in connection with the death of 13 women after they underwent sterilisation at the camps organised by the state government in Bilaspur district.
"Rakesh Khare, one of the two directors of Bilaspur-based Kavita Pharmaceuticals, was arrested from a resort under Koni police station limits," Bilaspur Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chandrakar said today.
Rakesh was produced before a local court yesterday, which remanded him to judicial custody, he said.
Another director of the firm, Rajesh Khare, had already been arrested, the officer said.
Kavita Pharmaceuticals was the supplier of the drug Ciprocin-500 whose consumption allegedly resulted into deterioration of the women's health post the procedure.
In November, 2014, as many as 137 women underwent tubectomy at sterilisation camps in Pendari village and Pendra block of Bilaspur. However, 13 women died after undergoing the procedure while many others fell ill.
The investigation in the case had revealed that "substandard" medicines, including Ciprocin-500, were administered to the women in the camps, which resulted into deterioration of their health, Chandrakar said.
Later, examinations conducted by various laboratories confirmed that "poison-laced" medicines led to the tragic incident, he said.
"Following the incident, director of Mahawar Pharma Pvt Ltd, manufacturer of Ciprocin, Ramesh Mahawar and his son Sumit were arrested. Rajesh Khare, director of Kavita Pharma, which was a supplier of the drug, was also arrested while his partner Rakesh was absconding since then," he added.
Rakesh Khare and Rajesh Khare, both brothers, were booked under sections 304-Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 273 (sale of noxious food or drink), 272 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).