Health minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar said black marketing or unauthorised sale of costly life-saving medicines would not be tolerated

Published on: Aug 19, 2026, 16:21:53 IST

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Cancer drugs, costing up to ₹one lakh a vial, provided under Rajasthan’s government free-medicine programme were allegedly sold in the black market in Delhi, prompting the state government to order an inquiry into their procurement, distribution and utilisation.

Health minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar, who ordered the probe on Wednesday, said black marketing or unauthorised sale of costly life-saving medicines meant for patients at government hospitals would not be tolerated.

The Delhi Police’s Inter-State Cell, which tracks and investigates criminal syndicates operating across states, arrested members of a drug syndicate on Tuesday and seized 22 vials of cancer medicines, including Darzalex, Imfinzi, Erbitux, Bavencio, Adcetris and Keytruda. It also recovered ₹27.19 lakh in cash and was carrying out more searches.

Four seized vials of Bavencio 200mg/10ml (avelumab), batch AU052510, have emerged as the key link to Rajasthan. The batch was manufactured in February 2025 and is due to expire in January 2028. Verification with the manufacturer established that the batch was supplied to the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL).

An RMSCL official said the same batch was supplied to hospitals in Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner, including the Acharya Tulsi Regional Research Cancer Institute.

The inquiry committee will examine the supply chain, including procurement records, stock registers, indents, dispatch details, receipt and storage records, distribution and patient-treatment records.

The Delhi Crime Branch has issued a notice to RMSCL managing director Pukhraj Sen seeking documents related to the procurement, receipt, distribution and utilisation of the particular batch. Investigators sought details of the hospitals and medical colleges that received the stock and the officials who accepted it.

Police sought details on whether any complaint relating to theft, disappearance or misappropriation of the medicines was received from the concerned hospital or warehouse and whether any departmental inquiry or case was registered.

The government-supply labels and markings were removed from the seized medicines. Investigators suspect the alleged syndicate’s network may have extended from Rajasthan and Delhi to Vashi in Mumbai.

Officials are examining the possibility that some recovered material could be empty vials left after genuine treatment and subsequently diverted for use in counterfeit injections.

Khinvsar directed RMSCL to strengthen monitoring of government drug supplies and make the distribution system more transparent. He said responsibility would be fixed and strict action taken if the inquiry establishes negligence, irregularities or collusion at any level.

Opposition Congress leader Tikaram Jully demanded that the probe be expanded to all government-run hospitals. He alleged that poor patients were being denied medicines and injections while government-supplied drugs were reaching the black market. “This is a clear case of corruption,” Jully said, demanding a high-level investigation into drug supplies across government hospitals. He claimed that a wider probe could bring a major scam to light.

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