Gandhinagar, Apr 28 (IANS): A Remdesivir injection black market ring was busted in Gujarat's Vadodara by the Crime Branch with the arrest of five persons and the seizure of 90 vials of the anti-Covid drug valued at Rs 5 lakh, police said.

Based on the inputs, DCP Jaydeepsinh Jadeja kept a watch at a place near Subhanpura Nutan Vidyalaya where the delivery of Remdesivir injections was to be made and arrested Rushi Pradeepbhai Jeth with 17 vials.

Based on information from his interrogation, police arrested Vikas Laxmanbhai Patel, Pratik Narendrabhai Panchal, Manan Rajeshbhai Shah, and Jatin Patel, the owner of Jaynam Pharma agency. Police also seized a total of Rs. 7.6 lakh worth goods from the arrested.

"In this racket, a pharmacist, medical store and medical supply agencies are involved. The arrested used to sell these injections at a price ranging from Rs 16,000-20,000 in the black market. Vikas Patel has a job in the medical store of Shroff Hospital in Vadodara. He used to procure injections from Jatin Patel. We raided Jatin Patel's house, where we found 45 Remdesivir injections," Commissioner of Police Shamsher Singh told the media.

"On integrating Jatin Patel, we found out that he used to procure injections from Vivek Shah of DK Enterprises in Vadodara. We have found out that this gang had sold around 300 to 400 Remdesivir injections in black market and they were yet to supply another 300 to 400 injections. The search is on for Vivek Shah of the DK Enterprises," he added.

According to sources, the Vadodara police will be handing over the seized Remdesivir injections to the city's SSG Hospital.