ED raids in 'illegal' drugs sale case by Punjab de-addiction centres
money laundering investigation
linked to "illegal" sale of drugs by private de-addiction centres in the northern state, official sources said.
The federal probe agency's investigation stems from various FIRs filed by Punjab Police against a doctor named Amit Bansal, a pharmaceutical company, a drugs inspector and some others.
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Bansal runs 22 drugs de-addiction centres across Punjab, the sources said.
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The raids are being conducted in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Barnala in Punjab and in Mumbai, Maharashtra, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Sources said private de-addiction centres like the ones run by Bansal have been entrusted by the Punjab government to provide BNX (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) medicine to patients, enrolled in their facilities, so that they can be weaned away from narcotics.
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It was found that these medicines meant for rehabilitation of drug addicts were being taken in "excess" quantity for a "new kind of drug abuse", they said.
The sources claimed Bansal, through his de-addiction centres, "misused" the facilities and was involved in "illegal" sale of such drugs.
A drugs inspector named Rupinder Kaur is being searched as the official allegedly assisted Bansal in forwarding incorrect inspection report related to pilferage of medicine from his hospitals, the sources said.
A phrama company named Rusan Phrama Limited, manufacturer of BNX, was also covered during the action, they said. PTI
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