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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Dr Eswara Reddy, joint drug controller in Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) while accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh to clear an under-trial injection of India’s top drug firm Biocon Biologics.
In a statement, CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said that along with Reddy, Synergy Network India Private Limited director Dinesh Dua was also arrested for giving the bribe.
The agency also carried out searches at 11 locations in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Bihar’s Patna, and the tech city of Bengaluru where Biocon’s headquarters is situated. “The searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents/articles,” the CBI said.
The CBI has registered an FIR in which, along with Reddy and Dua, it has named Guljit Sethi aka Guljit Chaudhary, Director of Delhi-based Bioinnovat Research Services Private Limited, L Praveen Kumar, Associate Vice-President and Head-National Regulatory Affairs (NRA) of Bengaluru-based Biocon Biologics Limited, Animesh Kumar, Assistant Drug Inspector (ADI), CDSCO New Delhi and other unknown officials of CDSCO.
Reddy was paid the bribe to waive the phase III trial of “Insulin Aspart Injection”.
Spokesperson Joshi said Dua agree to pay a bribe amount of Rs 9 lakh to Reddy for favorably processing three files of Biocon and also for favourably recommending “Insulin Aspart Injection” to the Subject Expert Committee (SEC).
“CBI laid a trap wherein the JDC of CDSCO was caught while accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh from Dua. Dua was also caught,” he added.
CBI officials are trying to ascertain links among these three companies including any financial transaction, sources in the investigative agency told The New Indian.
