Nagpur: Tehsil police have arrested a youth for selling medicines in the ward of the new surgical complex building at Mayo Hospital illegally. The accused has been identified as Sumit Bandu Sonulkar (19), a resident of Wathoda.
According to police, the accused Sumit works at a medical shop. He was selling medicines to people without a doctor’s prescription in the premises of Mayo Hospital on February 15 night. Making a video of the incident, other medicine dealers of the hospital campus nabbed Sumit and later handed him over to police. But at that time no action was taken against him. Later the matter reached Tehsil police who verified the video and confirmed that Sumit was selling medicines illegally.
However, the pharmacy owner who had deputed Sonulkar on the task was spared and not even booked in the case for abetting the crime. The Nagpur District Chemists and Druggists Association had carried out a sting operation to bust illegal sale of medicines in Mayo, which is a government hospital.
According to a media report, the accused Sumit Sonulkar was selling medicines, including Schedule H 1 drugs and some expired ones too, handed over to him by the pharmacy owner. The fact that the pharmacy was owned by Sonulkar’s employer is also mentioned in the FIR but the cops did not include him as a co-accused.
Sleuths of Tehsil police and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) had rushed to the pharmacy in Pardi in the wee hours of February 16 after Sonulkar was caught red-handed in a sting operation in ward number 44 of Mayo Hospital. Neither the pharmacy owner nor Sonulkar had any prescriptions or bills for the medicines with them when the police and FDA officials had reached the outlet.
The pharmacy owner was allowed to produce bills on the following day, which is also mentioned in the FIR.
Around 48 different drugs and also surgical accessories were found in the possession of Sonulkar without bills or prescriptions. Police have now seized the medicines and mobile of Sonulkar.
Though FDA had issued a ‘stop activities’ notice to the Pardi pharmacy, they too are yet to issue show-cause notice to the owner. Mayo Hospital dean Dr Sanjay Bijwe said a report of the inquiry by the five-member committee would soon be filed and sent to the police too.