HYDERABAD: The TSNAB’s (Telangana State Anti Narcotics Bureau) investigation into the recent fentanyl racket in Rajendranagar led the officials to Sameer Hospital in Asif Nagar. The officials apprehended five persons including the chairman, the director, two pharmacists of the hospital, and the managing partner of Medicare Pharma Distributors Pvt Ltd.
The officials found that Sameer Hospital did not have NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Licence - II. Though it was aware that it did not possess the requisite licence, Medicare Pharma Distributors were still providing the hospital with the narcotic drugs to make money illegally.
The investigation began on a tip-off received on a toll-free number that an anaesthetist and his wife were providing fentanyl to a doctor who was addicted to it. But at that time the doctor was away in Kuwait. Police established that he is an anaesthetist at Sameer Hospital and suspected that he was procuring the drug from the hospital pharmacy.
The apprehended persons are Shoaib Subhani, chairman of Sameer Hospital, Abdul Mujeeb, director, along with two other associates Syed Naseeruddin, a pharmacist, and Zaffer, a sales executive-cum-pharmacist.
The police said that Ahsan Mustafa Khan, the absconding accused, had colluded with Gopu Srinivas, managing partner of Medicare Pharma Distributors, Himayathnagar, and was selling the fentanyl citrate injection ampules to customers at the price of `5,000 each.
To procure the drug, the accused from the hospital created fake prescriptions and secured supplies from Medicare Pharma Distributors.
How it came to light
With the signature of surgical oncologist Shaik Saleem, a consignment of 100 fentanyl injections for 20 fake prescriptions was received on December 22, 2023.
The prescriptions mentioned ailments like lower respiratory tract, HIV, tibia bone fracture, Caesarean section, hernia, umbilical hernia repair, K wire fixation, hysterectomy, dilation and curettage procedure, and tubectomy.
The injections were procured but there was no entry of the consignment in the pharmacy register.
The hospital management stated that 17 of the 100 injections were used. When the police checked the case sheets, there was no evidence of the patients being administered with these 17 medicines. It was also found that no patient was billed for administering fentanyl.
The consignment was further detected at anaesthetist Dr Ahsan Mustafa Khan’s house on January 6 who received 100 injections of fentanyl, of which 57 were recovered.
As many as 43 must have been consumed by the drug abuse addict/victim. The 57 injections recovered from the house of the anaesthetist and those found in Sameer hospital bear the same batch number and date of expiry, the police said.