Tramadol supply case: Former health dept official sent to judicial custody

A local court has sent former health official Rakesh Sharma to judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand. Sharma was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the alleged illegal supply of tramadol to private hospitals beyond their allotted quota.

Meanwhile, the former Civil Surgeon and former District Malaria Officer, who had been summoned by the NCB to join the investigation and record their statements, failed to appear before the agency today. The NCB has also issued a look-out circular (LoC) against Aarti Malhotra, wife of Dr Jatinder Malhotra, who is also named in the case.

According to officials, the NCB has unearthed a large-scale scandal involving several local health officials. So far, the agency has arrested eight persons, including doctors and a web journalist, in connection with the case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also likely to begin a parallel investigation into the financial aspects of the illegal tramadol supply network. The NCB has written to the ED, seeking a probe into the money trail and associated properties. Earlier, two properties worth Rs 25 crore belonging to Dr Malhotra were frozen by the agency.

NCB officials said that profits generated from the illegal sale of tramadol were allegedly diverted into real estate and other ventures to disguise their illicit origins. Investigators are also probing foreign links after detecting several virtual numbers operated from the United States.

Those arrested so far include Rakesh Sharma, Dr Jatinder Malhotra, Dr Rajesh Kumar, Dr Parveen, Baudh Raj, Dr Rajinder Rajan, a web journalist, and pharmaceutical company owners Deepak Bhandari and Amit Bhandari.

Amritsar