Taking cognisance of the black marketing of the drugs, remdesivir and tocilizumab, the Maharashtra police recently formed a special squad specifically to track such cases. According to Maharashtra  police, so far, 54 cases have been registered and over 100 people have been arrested. mid-day has been extensively reporting on the issue. In one of the cases found by the police, the accused was collecting empty vials of remdesivir from medical waste piles at hospitals and filling them with fake drugs.

The special squad mainly keeps tabs on social media posts where thousands of patients share details such as their prescriptions for remdesivir and tocilizumab. “Accused people were found selling remdesivir in black market by charging 400 or 500 times than the actual price,” an officer said.