Published Aug 19, 2026 | 2:53 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 19, 2026 | 2:53 PM
The labels of the seized medicines bore the names of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer.
Synopsis: The Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration has busted an alleged operation in which spurious medicines brought into Bengaluru were relabelled with counterfeit branding of major pharmaceutical companies and supplied to hospitals at about half the market price, following a raid on a farmhouse near Bidadi. The operation led to the seizure of medicines, expired stock, counterfeit labels, packaging material and an injection-filling unit valued at ₹4.91 crore.
The Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has busted an alleged operation in which spurious medicines brought into Bengaluru from outside Karnataka were allegedly filled into vials, relabelled with counterfeit branding of major pharmaceutical companies and supplied to hospitals at prices about 50 percent below the market rate.
The alleged operation came to light after the FSDA, during a raid on a farmhouse at Kurubara Karenahalli near Bidadi on 18 August, seized medicines, expired stock, counterfeit labels, packaging material and an injection-filling unit valued at ₹4.91 crore.
The labels bore the names of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, while the QR codes and barcodes on them were reportedly non-functional.
The seizure included 5,640 bottles of CEFIAVIGENT 2.5 Injection valued at ₹3.38 crore, 1,531 bottles of HIZLAM Injection worth ₹52.24 lakh, expired medicines worth ₹35 lakh, 470 bottles of Xavitaz Injection valued at ₹27.49 lakh, and 264 bottles of EMBLAVEO bearing the name of Pfizer Limited worth ₹20.59 lakh.
Officials also found 165 bottles of Zavicefta Injection, an injection-filling unit valued at ₹5 lakh, and other injections, stoppers, caps, labels and packaging material worth around ₹2 lakh.
Samples of the seized medicines will be sent to a government laboratory to determine their composition, purity and quality.
The farmhouse belonged to an individual named Siddaiah and had been leased to a Dubai-based man identified as Prashanth.
Prashanth is accused of being the alleged principal operator behind the racket, while his relative Tejas allegedly managed the operation locally. An individual named Prabhudeva has been arrested in connection with the case.
An FIR has been registered at Tavarekere police station.
The findings have prompted Health Minister UT Khader to seek a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the suspected interstate network.
The proposed SIT is expected to examine the role of middlemen and establishment owners and follow the financial trail, tracing the manufacturers, those who transported the stock into Karnataka, the agents involved, the vehicles used, the pharmacies and establishments through which the medicines were supplied, and the owners of those establishments.
It will also trace the hospitals that received the medicines and determine how many patients, including those in intensive care units, may have been administered them.
Addressing a press conference at Arogya Soudha on Wednesday, 19 August, Khader said preliminary information pointed to Himachal Pradesh and Telangana as the source of the seized medicines.
He said the information gathered so far required coordination with drug-control authorities in those states. Officials are also examining whether the operation had extended to other parts of Karnataka.
Khader said the department had blocked the relevant batch numbers and entries covering around 12 lakh units of medicines from sale on its portal. The FSDA has also identified what officials believe is a wider supply chain associated with the seized medicines.
The minister also announced cash rewards for the officials and police personnel involved in uncovering the alleged operation.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
