In a joint operation, officials of the Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) and Agra police have busted a fake drug-producing unit at an educational institute and recovered a huge quantity of drugs and fake medicines worth Rs 5 crore.

Seven persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly making and selling these drugs.

According to police sources, ANTF was working on the case for one month and after getting a tip-off, the raid was conducted on the educational institute.

The accused have been identified as Diwan Singh, Rohit Singh, Narender Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Ajit Prashar, Sanni Raj, Rekha Devi and her husband Vijay Singh, all residents of Agra.

Police said that they have been booked under the NDPS Act, and seven of them were arrested while Vijay is absconding.

They were allegedly operating a drugs manufacturing unit at an educational institute to avoid suspicion.

They produced fake drugs such as Alzocel tab, Appecef tab, Corex, Codistar cough syrup and stocked them in classrooms.

Revealing their modus operandi, police said that the accused used to change the location after six months.

During investigation, it came to light that the deliveries of fake drugs or raw materials were received and sent after midnight. Thousands of empty and filled cough syrup bottles, tablets and other equipment were found at the institute along with two luxury cars and Rs eight lakh in cash.

Irfan Nasir Khan, DSP of ANTF, said, “An investigation is being conducted, and further links of the gang are being searched. They used to operate across the country. The drugs were being supplied across the country, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. They used to label and pack these drugs as branded medicine companies in India. A huge amount of label and packing material was also recovered from the spot.” (IANS/NJ)