Karnataka raids uncover ₹5 crore counterfeit drug network supplying over 90 hospitals

Karnataka's health and family welfare ministry disclosed that a raid on a farmhouse close to the Bidadi Toll Gate uncovered a large-scale counterfeit-medicine operation, seizing drugs worth nearly ₹5 crore. The haul included expired and falsified ICU injections, some bearing counterfeit Pfizer branding, allegedly repackaged from cheap bulk supplies sourced in Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. On August 19, a six-person Special Investigation Team headed by a senior IPS officer, with members from the Food Safety & Drug Administration and Commercial Taxes, was created to trace the interstate network suspected of delivering fake medicines to more than 90 hospitals and clinics in Bengaluru at about a 50 percent discount.

Subsequent coordinated searches at Krupa Healthcare near Minerva Circle yielded further counterfeit stock and led to the arrest of pharmacy owner Veeresh Kumar Jain; investigators say he collaborated with a man called Prashant, who is currently missing. The minister has instructed all Karnataka hospitals and nursing homes to avoid using the seized products and has informed the Union health ministry, seeking central regulatory help to stop nationwide distribution.