Gurgaon: The investigation into the spurious Telma-AM tablets has moved closer to the manufacturing network, with Haryana food and drugs administration (FDA) arresting two more persons from Uttarakhand. Telma-AM tablets are prescribed for treating high blood pressure.Vipin Kumar, a resident of Mohammadpur Jat in Haridwar district, was arrested on Sept 21 for his role in the supply and manufacture of the spurious tablets, while Pardeep Kumar, a resident of Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district, was arrested around 9.30pm on Sept 25 for his involvement in their manufacture and sale, officials said.“The two were produced before a court on Sept 26. Vipin was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody at Bhondsi jail, while Pardeep was granted four days’ custodial remand,” an official said.The arrests come more than two months after the first arrests, taking the number of accused arrested to four. FDA had earlier arrested Suvrat Dwivedi and Zuvaier in connection with the alleged racket.The investigation had also uncovered an unlicensed drug stockist in Okhla. During a joint search by Haryana FDA and Delhi drugs control department, officials found that Shree Balaji Pharmaporium didn’t have a valid drug licence and seized 323 varieties of allopathic medicines. Another 560 strips of suspected spurious Telma-AM were recovered from the premises.The case began after FDA seized suspected counterfeit Telma-AM tablets in the city. The tablets carried a Glenmark label and batch number 05251007A, but the company told investigators that it had never manufactured the batch.With the latest arrests, investigators are now examining the manufacturing and supply links of the tablets and the roles of the four accused in the network. FDA is also trying to identify other persons allegedly involved in the manufacture, movement and sale of the spurious medicine.The latest Telma-AM case is among a series of counterfeit drug cases uncovered in the city in recent years. In 2023, four people, including a Turkish national, were arrested for selling counterfeit Defitelio (defibrotide sodium), an expensive cancer drug. In 2024, authorities busted a counterfeit drug racket operating from Sector 39 and seized more than 1,000 boxes of fake Tofajak, a generic arthritis medicine, with four people arrested. In 2025, one person was arrested after counterfeit Headon (somatropin) injections were seized; the injections were allegedly being sold without prescriptions to bodybuilders, while another accused remained absconding. In 2026, investigators uncovered an alleged racket manufacturing fake Mounjaro (tirzepatide) injections from a flat in Sector 62, where raw drugs were allegedly mixed with water and sold online. Fake injections worth more than Rs 70 lakh were seized near DLF Phase 4, and two people were arrested.
