CEO of a herbal healthcare company among six arrested for Alprazolam trade

PTI, Sep 27, 2024, 12:47 PM IST

New Delhi: Six people, including the CEO of a herbal healthcare company, have been arrested for allegedly manufacturing and supplying Alprazolam, a psychotropic substance, in the Delhi-NCR region, police said on Friday.

The drug was allegedly manufactured in a unit of Biocase Foods and Extracts Pvt. Ltd in Hisar, Haryana, which is owned by Dr Naveen Aggarwal. He is a recipient of the Indian Achiever’s Award and was given the ‘CEO of the Year’ award last year, police said.

Anand Kumar alias Sonu, who owns a pharmaceutical company called Sakshi Enterprises Ltd, was also arrested for the trade of the substances, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Amit Goel.

The other accused are Deepak Kumar, Rajender Kumar Mishra, Ram Ashish Maurya and Mukesh Kumar — all four of them suppliers, the DCP said.

The officer said Naveen Aggarwal, who also owns Nutriley Pvt. Ltd. had won the Indian Achiever’s Award in 2023.

The Indian Achievers’ Awards are platform that celebrates the outstanding achievements of professionals of Indian origin from around the world for work related to various sectors.

On March 23 this year, acting on a tip-off a team of crime branch arrested one Rajender Prasad Mishra alias RP from Delhi’s Brijpuri and busted the supply chain of the psychotropic substance Alprazolam.

Around 18 kg of Alprazolam powder was recovered from his possession, the officer said.

On interrogation, Mishra disclosed that he works as a carrier in the drug cartel involved in the supply of Alprazolam powder.

He told police that he procured Alprazolam powder from Ram Ashish Maurya of Brijpuri and delivered them to Anand Kumar of Karawal Nagar, Delhi.

Police then conducted raids and arrested Ram Ashish Maurya and Anand Kumar. A huge cash amount of Rs 1,17,60,350 was recovered from their houses, the DCP said.

Subsequently, Deepak Kumar of Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat was also arrested, who disclosed that the Alprazolam powder was manufactured at a unit of Biocase Foods and Extracts Pvt. Ltd. in Hisar and it was owned by Dr. Naveen Aggarwal.

Aggarwal was then arrested and traces of Alprazolam powder were also found from the factory with the help of FSL team, he said.

During the course of investigation, it was also revealed that accused Deepak took shelter at the residence of one Mukesh Kumar, who was also arrested in the case. Police said the accused are being further interrogated and a probe was underway.