Pimpri-Chinchwad: Police have registered a case against a medical store owner in Chinchwad for allegedly selling counterfeit injections meant for cancer treatment.

The police action took place on Tuesday (September 24) evening near Niramay Hospital in Chinchwad, following a tip-off about the sale of fake medicines.

The accused, Shriprasad Shrihari Kulkarni (42), a resident of Sinhagad Road, Pune, is now facing legal action for endangering public health.

The complaint was lodged by Mahesh Vishnu Kamble, a 42-year-old resident of Shivajinagar, Pune, who works for Takeda Pharmaceutical Limited.

Takeda is a global pharmaceutical company that manufactures Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), a crucial injection used in cancer treatment. According to the complaint, counterfeit versions of Takeda’s Adcetris injection were found stocked at Kulkarni’s medical store in Chinchwad.

Upon receiving the complaint, police raided the medical shop and seized fake injections worth ₹3.5 lakh. Investigations revealed that the counterfeit injections had been illegally marketed under the brand name of Takeda, potentially putting cancer patients at severe risk.

The police are currently probing the source of these counterfeit medicines and how they made their way into the retail market.

Pimpri Police have launched an investigation to trace the supply chain of these counterfeit injections and determine whether others might be involved in this illegal operation. Stringent actions will be taken against those found responsible, including prosecution under relevant drug control and criminal laws.