Fake blood plasma racket busted; Ahmedabad police arrest four

According to officials, among the four arrested individuals, the prime accused worked as a plasma collection executive for pharmaceutical companies and was familiar with blood bank operations, as well as plasma collection, transport, and storage systems.

The other accused includes a blood bank operator from Washim and two drivers.

The racket was believed to have operated across Maharashtra and Gujarat. Police said the plasma was procured from a blood bank in Washim, Maharashtra, and the consignment was allegedly intercepted and tampered with near Ahmedabad.  

According to the HT news report, Ahmedabad Rural Superintendent of Police Prakash Jat stated that genuine plasma units were removed and replaced with substandard or useless plasma. To avoid detection, the volume of the plasma was kept unchanged, and the packages were resealed.

The police said that the accused diverted approximately 114 litres of plasma and sold it at a rate of ₹5,000 per litre. Approximately 500 units of substandard quality plasma were procured from the Washim Blood Bank for replacement purposes. 

According to investigators, Chaudhary had contacts with blood banks in Maharashtra during his previous job and included drivers carrying plasma consignments in his network.

Before the vehicles carrying plasma could reach the pharmaceutical companies, they were diverted to a location at Moriya, near Ahmedabad, where the high-quality plasma was replaced with an equal quantity of inferior or unusable plasma.

A detailed investigation was conducted after the matter came to light, during which 1,140 plasma units, a deep freezer, bottles of chemicals, a sealing machine, and a vehicle were seized; their total value is estimated at ₹12.06 lakh.

A case was registered at the Changodar police station and was subsequently transferred to the Ahmedabad Rural Special Operations Group due to its inter-state ramifications.