Three men were nabbed by the Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force (Central Zone) team on June 21 for illegally procuring and selling Amphotericin B and Posaconazole injections, which are used for treating mucormycosis or black fungus infection. The accused were found selling the drugs at inflated prices. The three men, who owned and managed different pharmacies in Kukatpally and Balanagar localities of Hyderabad, were illegally selling Amphotericin B injections for Rs 35,000, against the MRP of Rs 7,444 and Posaconazole for Rs 50,000, against the MRP of Rs 8500, the police said.
The Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force team arrested the accused — Konduru Kranti Kumar, owner of Medix Pharmacy in Kukatpally, Nangunri Venkatesh Dinesh, owner of Shankari Pharmacy, Kukatpally and Shikakolla Srinivas, owner of Balaji Medicine World in Balanagar — based on a tip-off. The police said that they laid a trap near Necklace Road and nabbed them on June 21. Thirty vials of Amphotericin B, five vials of Posaconazole and five mobile phones were recovered from the accused. The accused along with the property recovered from them have been taken to the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Ramgopalpet Police Station for further investigation and necessary action.
Since the rise in mucormycosis cases in the month of May 2021, several patients have had difficulty receiving treatment in Hyderabad due to a scarcity of the required drugs. Due to the high demand for Amphotericin B and Posaconazole injections used in the treatment of mucormycosis, there has been a rise in illegal procurement and selling of these injections in the black market, in Telangana as well as many other states. Injections that were available in the range of Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 are now being sold between Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 in the black market, according to the police.