Spurious plasma: After Ahmedabad arrests, focus on 2 Maharashtra blood banks

Ahmedabad: Two Maharashtra-based blood banks have come under the scanner for allegedly supplying spurious plasma to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.On June 22, Ahmedabad rural police arrested four persons for allegedly manufacturing spurious and substandard plasma using saline water, deteriorated plasma, and colouring agents.A senior police officer said one of the blood banks is located in Vashi, while the other in a prominent Mumbai locality. Investigators are examining the banks’ role in the supply chain and whether the plasma they supplied reached patients.“We are tracing the movement of plasma units,” an officer said. “We are also investigating whether any person suffered harm because of the spurious plasma.”The case surfaced after US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) rejected plasma samples of an Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company.

The company traced the source of the material and lodged a complaint with Changodar police.Police said Dinesh Chaudhary, 32, a former plasma collection executive from Banaskantha, is the mastermind of the racket. Another key accused, Mohan Gaikwad, also 32, of Vashi, allegedly operated a blood bank and supplied compromised plasma.Police said the accused exploited their knowledge of blood bank operations, plasma collection, and logistics to run the racket.

Findings suggest that at least 114 units of spurious plasma were sold over the past six months for Rs 5,000 per unit.Two other accused, Rafik Khalifa and Jitendra Solanki, both from Dholka, have been arrested.Police are scrutinising procurement records, hospital purchases, and pharmaceutical transactions to determine the scale of the operation.