NT Reporter Panaji
Panaji police have registered a case against M/s Aarav Pharma for allegedly supplying spurious anti-snake venom injections to the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) in a fraud amounting to nearly Rs 5 lakh.
The complaint was filed by Dr Saheen Saiyed, Deputy Director (Medicine) at the DHS, Panaji, following a discovery that the pharmaceutical firm had misrepresented the origin and authenticity of the life-saving medication between December 2025 and January 2026.
According to the complaint, the accused firm is located at Shop No. 4, Alfranca Complex, Cabesa, St Cruz, Tiswadi.
The firm supplied injection anti-snake venom (lyophillised) bearing batch no. 01 AS25007, claiming it was manufactured by Vins Bioproducts Limited, according to the complaint. However, an investigation revealed that the product was not manufactured by Vins Bioproducts Limited.
The firm allegedly used copies of labels and packaging of Vins Bioproducts Limited without the company’s consent thus infringing copyright.
The Directorate of Health Services had placed a purchase order worth Rs 4,99,884, and the firm subsequently delivered the spurious anti-snake venom vials.
Spurious anti-snake venom poses a serious threat to public health, as the medication is critical in treating snake bite victims, particularly in rural areas of Goa where such incidents are not uncommon.
The racket came to light following a complaint by the original drug manufacturing company based in Telangana to the central Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) that suspicious anti-snake venom was supplied to Goa’s Directorate of Health Services using their label. After a joint inspection by officials of the Central Drugs Standard Control
Organisation and state FDA, the vials were seized.
The Panaji police have registered an offence under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which deals with cheating and dishonest inducement, and Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, which pertains to infringement of copyright
