Bengaluru Airport Arrest: Fake Drug Racket Kingpin Nabbed After Month-Long Manhunt

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing an alleged fake drug racket has arrested its suspected kingpin, Prashanth Ranjan Babu, at Kempegowda International Airport after he returned to Bengaluru from abroad early on Monday. The accused, reported to be aged 35 or 36, had been absconding for nearly one-and-a-half months, and a Lookout Circular had been issued against him. Airport authorities detained Prashanth after he arrived on a flight from Sharjah, following travel from Azerbaijan. Reports differed slightly on the time of detention, with officials stating that he was taken into custody at around 5.40 am at the airport entry gate. A police team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Anjan Kumar took him into custody and brought him in for questioning.

Police said the SIT had been tracking Prashanth since the alleged racket was exposed in August. He is accused of being the prime accused and alleged mastermind of a network involved in the manufacture, repackaging and distribution of counterfeit medicines. After his detention, investigators said he would be produced before a court and sought in police custody for further interrogation. The case stems from an August 18 raid in which Tavarekere police and officials from the Food Safety and Drugs Administration uncovered an alleged fake-medicine operation at a farmhouse in Dodderi, in Bengaluru South district. During the raid, authorities recovered spurious drugs and other valuables estimated at about Rs 5 crore, following which the Karnataka government constituted an SIT on August 20.

Investigators have said the network allegedly operated from farmhouses in Dodderi, where medicines were repackaged and supplied to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. Reports have said the alleged counterfeit medicines included cancer and critical-care drugs. The SIT is also examining the extent to which such products may have reached healthcare facilities within and outside Karnataka. According to earlier SIT findings, spurious drugs worth an estimated Rs 12 crore were sold to hospitals and clinics in Bengaluru and outside Karnataka since February 2025. Investigators are attempting to establish the full financial scale of the operation, the identity of buyers and suppliers, and the route through which alleged counterfeit medicines entered the supply chain.

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Another accused, Bengaluru pharmacist and Krupa Healthcare owner Veeresh Kumar Jain, was arrested earlier in the case. He is alleged to have operated a firm that relabelled expired medicines and sold them at discounted rates to clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. Police have described him as a close associate of Prashanth. Prashanth, a medical representative and resident of Papareddypalya in west Bengaluru, had reportedly travelled to Azerbaijan on August 8. Investigators said he had been attempting to source cheaper medicines abroad, while immigration authorities had impounded his passport. He was reportedly detained by local authorities in Azerbaijan over passport and visa-related issues before returning to India.

His arrest is seen as a significant breakthrough in the multi-state investigation. Police said further interrogation will focus on procurement of medicines, the alleged repackaging process, distribution channels, financial transactions and the roles of other accused persons. Investigators expect his custody to help them establish how the network operated and identify additional suspects. The SIT, constituted by the Karnataka government, includes officials from the police, Drugs Control Department and commercial taxes department. So far, at least seven people have been arrested in connection with the case, including Prashanth and Veeresh.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and that more arrests, searches or seizures may follow as officials trace the network’s supply chain. Authorities have not disclosed the final details of the charges or the full list of hospitals and pharmacies allegedly involved, pending further verification. The case has raised concerns about the safety of essential medicines and the checks governing pharmaceutical distribution. Officials said the focus of the investigation will remain on establishing accountability, recovering evidence and preventing further circulation of suspected counterfeit medicines.

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