ED raids doctor's house in Ludhiana: Records of medicines of de-addiction centres confiscated

The Jalandhar team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided different locations of Dr. Amit Bansal in Ludhiana, Punjab on Wednesday. During the raid at several places, the officials seized many documents. The records of the patients who have taken de-addiction medicines from Dr. Bansal have also been seized by the officials.

Several bank accounts worth Rs 21 crore of the now closed de-addiction centers run by Dr. Bansal and his family members have been seized.

This action has been taken in connection with the ongoing investigation of a drug abuse and money laundering case related to private de-addiction centers in the state. An ED official gave this information.

Raids were conducted at 4 places on July 18

The official said that the investigation includes alleged misuse of prescription drugs and illegal financial transactions related to 22 private de-addiction centers in Punjab. The official said that in this connection, the ED had also conducted coordinated raids at 4 places in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Barnala and Mumbai on July 18.

According to ED sources, the agency is investigating how "drugs meant only for registered addicts were illegally sold and diverted and how the proceeds from these sales were laundered."

Investigation started 7 months ago

The ED took over the case from the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, which began the investigation about 7 months ago and arrested Dr Bansal. ED sources said that Dr Bansal, a Chandigarh-based physician, was accused of misusing medicines prescribed for the treatment of drug addiction and selling it to unregistered drug addicts.

All de-addiction centers have been closed

The ED official said that although Dr Bansal is currently on bail, all his 22 de-addiction centers in Punjab and one in Chandigarh have been closed. He said that his Chandigarh center was also sealed during the ED raid on July 18.

The official said that so far 4 FIRs have been registered against his centers in various districts including Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala. He said that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested him in Chandigarh before handing over the case to the ED.

Medicines found missing from doctor's centers

According to ED sources, thousands of tablets were found missing from Dr. Bansal's centers. During the inspection, Dr. Bansal allegedly claimed that unused medicines had been returned to the pharmaceutical companies from which they were purchased. According to ED sources, this claim is now under investigation.

ED sources said that in earlier raids, the agency had seized thousands of banned tablets and more than Rs 90 thousand cash from a hospital in Ludhiana and other establishments linked to Dr. Bansal. He said that Ludhiana-based drug inspector Ruppreet Kaur has also been made a co-accused.

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The official said that further irregularities were revealed in the investigation that in a hospital in Nakodar (Jalandhar), about 1.44 lakh tablets were found missing from the stock.