Man held with 3 lakh counterfeit PPI tablets

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested one person with three lakh counterfeit proton pump inhibitor tablets of five popular brands.

Proton pump inhibitors are the highest-selling medicine in the country which is used for treating gastric issues.

The DB arrested Iqbal Hossain alias Rana in Dhaka’s Motijheel on Wednesday night.

Harun Or Rashid, the chief of the DB, in a press briefing at the DMP media centre on Thursday said they seized 25,480 tablets of Pantonix brand, 36,000 tablets of Seclo brand, 92,000 tablets of Sergel brand, 1,08,500 tablets of Finix brand, 36,000 tablets of Losectil brand, and 5,400 tablets of Etorix brand along with some other medicines.

The accused admitted that these medicines are counterfeit and the high demand for proton pump inhibitors in the market lured him to make such tablets and distribute those.

The DB chief said Iqbal collected the counterfeit tablets from one Md Atiyar, 50, of Syedpur of Nilphamari and hoarded them in a warehouse on Station Road in Cumilla city.

Later, Iqbal marketed the tablets at places in the country including Dhaka through parcels, Harun said.

He also said that efforts are on to arrest other members of the ring involved in the production, storage and marketing of these adulterated medicines.

In the past year, they filed 15 cases in connection with such incidents and arrested more than 30 people, he said.