The alleged kingpin of Karnataka’s counterfeit drug racket was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport early Monday, nearly six weeks after he fled the farmhouse where investigators first uncovered medicines, machinery and packaging material valued at around ₹5 crore, police said.
R Prashanth, 36, was taken into custody around 5.40am after arriving in Bengaluru from Sharjah, according to officers familiar with the investigation.
A Lookout Circular was issued against him after he allegedly escaped during the August 18 raid at an unlicensed facility in Kurubarakeranahalli near Bidadi.
Prashanth was initially traced to Azerbaijan, where he was reportedly detained over passport and visa-related issues. Investigators believe he subsequently travelled to Sharjah before returning to Bengaluru.
A team led by assistant commissioner of police Anjan Kumar took him into custody at the airport.
“He was taken for a medical examination and later brought to the Bengaluru City police commissioner’s office, where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) recorded his preliminary statement. The SIT is expected to produce him before a court on Monday and seek his custody for further questioning,” said an officer.
His arrest came after investigators obtained information from other accused, including Veeresh Kumar Jain, the owner of Krupa Healthcare near Minerva Circle. Jain was arrested after the SIT and Drugs Control Department raided the pharmacy on September 11 as investigators traced the suspected distribution chain.
The investigation began with a tip from a labourer who found discarded medicine vials, tubes and packets containing powder in a field near Dodderi.
The information led officials to the Bidadi facility on August 18, where they seized suspected spurious medicines, expired stock, injection filling equipment, packaging material and forged labels. The seized medicines alone were valued at about ₹4.91 crore, while the total value cited by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was around ₹5.05 crore.
Among the largest seizures were 5,640 vials labelled as Cefiavigent 2.5 injections, valued at about ₹3.38 crore. Investigators suspect low-cost medicines procured from neighbouring states were being transferred into new vials and relabelled as expensive pharmaceutical products. The FDA also found that QR and scanning codes on the counterfeit labels did not work when checked.
The SIT and Drugs Control Department later searched several locations in multiple states. Investigators also suspect the network supplied medicines to more than 90 hospitals and clinics in Bengaluru, while more than 15 medical representatives came under scrutiny.
The state government constituted the SIT on August 20 to investigate the network. The FDA subsequently cancelled 16 drug licences and suspended eight others as the probe expanded to pharmacies and wholesalers. Samples of the seized medicines were sent for laboratory tests to establish their chemical composition, sterility and potency.