Ahmedabad, July 9 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Rural Police on Thursday arrested three more people in an alleged fake blood plasma racket, taking the total number of arrests to seven, as investigators expanded the probe to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh after tracing the movement of adulterated plasma through an interstate supply chain.

The latest arrests include Ajit Solanki, 33, of Bavla in Ahmedabad district, and Maharashtra blood bank operators Prakash Sangale and Ashok Sangale.

According to the Special Operations Group (SOG), the three were allegedly involved in transporting, receiving and distributing adulterated plasma that had been substituted for genuine plasma intended for pharmaceutical companies.

Police said the case was first uncovered last month after a pharmaceutical company based in Changodar lodged a complaint alleging that plasma consignments collected from blood banks had been tampered with before reaching its facility.

Investigators subsequently arrested the alleged mastermind, Dinesh Chaudhary, a former plasma collection executive, along with Jitendra Solanki, Rafik Khalifa and Mohan Gaikwad.

Officers alleged that Chaudhary used his knowledge of the plasma collection and transportation process to replace genuine plasma with adulterated material before consignments reached the pharmaceutical company.

Police said the latest investigation found that Ajit Solanki transported plasma consignments from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh using the complainant company’s pickup vehicle.

Before the consignments reached the pharmaceutical company, he allegedly supplied 12 boxes of plasma to Chaudhary during March and April.

The pickup vehicle, and valued at about Rs 2.50 lakh, has been seized. According to the SOG, Chaudhary allegedly obtained unusable plasma from Mohan Gaikwad, who sourced it through a blood bank in Maharashtra.

Genuine plasma collected from blood banks was allegedly removed and replaced with the adulterated material before being sent onwards.

Police allege that Prakash Sangale and Ashok Sangale, who operated blood banks in Maharashtra’s Washim district, later facilitated the movement of the substituted plasma to another pharmaceutical company in Bengaluru. The investigation into that company is continuing.

Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Jat said investigators were working to establish the complete supply chain, identify all recipients and trace the financial transactions linked to the racket.

“In the fake plasma racket, four accused had been arrested by the time of the incident. We have now arrested three more accused,” Jat said.

He said investigators had found that Ajit Solanki transported plasma from various states and that “from every plasma consignment, around 100 plasma bags were stolen”.

Across three consignments, approximately 275 plasma bags were allegedly removed and replaced with adulterated plasma prepared by Chaudhary and Gaikwad.

“So far, our investigation has uncovered approximately 1,700 adulterated plasma bags. Each bag was sold for around Rs 5,000. The figure could increase as the investigation progressed and more associates were identified,” he said.

Police said no evidence had emerged so far that the adulterated plasma had been supplied directly to hospitals or used on patients.

“Our investigation has found no evidence so far that the adulterated plasma was sold directly to hospitals for use on patients. It was supplied directly to pharmaceutical companies,” Jat said, adding that if anyone connected with those companies was found to be involved, legal action would follow.

The SOG also announced that the 1,140 units of blood plasma seized from Chaudhary’s residence had been examined by the Department of Pathology at B.J. Medical College.

The laboratory concluded that the plasma was adulterated and unfit for either human use or pharmaceutical processing.

Following permission from the local court, the seized plasma was destroyed in the presence of police officials, representatives of the Food and Drugs Department and B.J. Medical College, with disposal carried out by an authorised biomedical waste management agency.

“Investigators had already verified several blood banks in Maharashtra and had not found suspicious activity beyond the two blood banks linked to the arrested operators. Police teams will now extend inquiries to blood banks in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh while continuing to investigate the Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical company that purchased the plasma,” Jat noted.

Earlier investigations led to the seizure of 1,140 plasma units, a deep freezer, chemicals, sealing equipment and other material allegedly used to prepare and package adulterated plasma.

Following the initial raid, a case was registered at the Changodar Police Station under sections 316(3), 338(2), 125, 276, 328(4), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

–IANS

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