'Not-for-sale' medicines worth Tk 50 lakh seized

The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members seized a huge quantity of 'not-for-sale' medicines worth about Tk 50 lakh during a raid on wholesale drug stores at Babubazar in the city yesterday and arrested 13 traders.
The medicines are meant for free distribution among the patients in government hospitals but find their way to the market as some government employees sold them to drug stores.
Sale of these medicines, mostly donated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Unicef, in the market are totally prohibited and this is a punishable crime, said Lt Sultan Hossain Nurani, wing commander of Rab-3.
"These drugs are meant for distribution among the poor people. We have information that some government officials and unscrupulous traders have been carrying out such illegal activities in the area for long," he said.
The Rab-3 members conducted the raid on 24 wholesale drug stores from 11:30am to 7:30pm. Officials of the health directorate were also present during the drive.