ELURU: The seizure of 880 Tramadol injections and the arrest of five persons by Jangareddygudem police have raised concerns over monitoring of narcotic medicines at medical agencies and pharmacies in the division.
Jangareddygudem SDPO B. Venkateswarlu said the five were arrested for allegedly purchasing, storing and selling Tramadol injections without bills and doctors’ prescriptions.
Acting on the directions of Eluru District SP K Prathap Siva Kishore, the SDPO supervised raids conducted by CI MV Subhash and SI N Veera Prasad at several medical agencies in the town on Monday.
The arrests followed the investigation into the illegal sale of Tramadex and Tramek injections. Police had earlier arrested Lakshmana Sai Kishore, owner of Sri Lakshmi Srinivasa Medical Agency, on July 5.
Based on information obtained during his interrogation, police examined other medical agencies suspected of purchasing the injections from him. The arrested were Eluri Satish, Eluri Durga Prasad, Deva Rajasekhar alias Rajesh, Tammisetti Chiranjeevi and Madhavarapu Sivakrishna. Police seized 780 Tramadex and 100 Tramek injections, besides mobile phones and other records allegedly linked to the transactions.
The case has also brought the drug control mechanism in the division under scrutiny as the post of Drug Inspector has reportedly remained vacant for several years, raising questions over routine inspection and monitoring of pharmacies and medical agencies dealing with controlled medicines.
It has highlighted the need for regular verification of purchase and sale records, stock registers and prescriptions to prevent diversion of narcotic medicines into the illegal market.
Officials also need to establish the wider supply chain and determine whether more agencies or individuals were involved.
With misuse of narcotic injections posing a serious public health concern, residents have urged the police and the Drug Control Administration to intensify inspections and take coordinated action against unauthorised sales.
