Bengaluru pharmacy owner held for illegally selling painkiller that killed 2 youth
Bengaluru(The News Minute) : The Bengaluru Police have arrested the owner of a pharmacy in Rajajinagar for allegedly selling Tydol tablets to two the two youths who died on November 19 due to an overdose.
On Friday, the Vyalikaval Police arrested Manish Kumar, the owner of Mandeep Pharmacy located in Rajajinagar’s Dr MC Modi Road. The arrest was made after the police obtained the statement of one of the victims of the alleged overdose – Sumanth, who is currently undergoing treatment at KIMS Hospital in Bengaluru.
According to Sumanth’s statement, at around 5 pm on November 17, he planned to meet his friends Gopi and Abhilash at Gopi’s residence for a birthday party. When the trio met, Gopi allegedly asked Abhilash to stay back, while he asked Sumanth to accompany him to the medical store.
“Gopi drove us all the way from Vyalikaval to Rajajinagar to Mandeep Pharma, where he bought some tablets, distilled water and syringes. We went back to Gopi’s house. Gopi took us to a building, which was under construction opposite his house, where he told us about Tydol,” Sumanth’s statement reads.
Tydol is a painkiller used for post-operative care. It is an opioid and overdose can lead to death. Sumanth told the police that the owner of Mandeep Pharma had sold them the pills without a prescription.
“Gopi told us that he had bought it (tablets) many times from Mandeep Pharma. Abhilash and I were reluctant to consume it. Gopi mixed the pills with water and injected it into his body first. Abhilash did it the second time. I did not want to do it but I felt pressurised to. We injected it into our bodies twice,” Sumanth’s statement reads.
Soon after, Abhilash allegedly complained of pain in his heart and stomach. The trio then decided to return home, thinking it may have been the alcohol they had consumed prior to the consumption of Tydol, that was causing the uneasiness.
“On the morning of November 18, Abhilash’s parents had taken him to Suguna Hospital. Gopi was taken to Vera Hospital. I was brought to KIMS by my parents. I did not know what was happening until the doctors told me that it was the painkiller,” Sumanth said in his statement to the police.
However, earlier, the police had told TNM, the three friends had met at Abhilash’s home and had stayed back at his residence after consuming the drug. The police, now say that the FIR has been registered based on Sumanth’s statement as they did not have the information during preliminary investigation.
Based on his complaint, the Vyalikaval police informed the state Drugs Controller that Mandeep Pharma had allegedly illegally sold a prescription drug to the three youth, which resulted in their deaths. The Drugs Controller under officer Khanapure raided Mandeep Pharma on Friday evening. Khanapure told TNM that they found a huge stash of Tydol at the pharmacy, which was not logged into the store’s books.
“This was stashed illegally. He was selling Tydol illegally for months before the raid. We have seized the drugs and the police have booked him under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,” Khanapure said.
In addition, Manish has been booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.
