In a major dent on the drug supply chain racket, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of the Amritsar unit has arrested Amit Bhandari, owner of the pharmaceutical company Blastik Pharma, allegedly for illegally supplying large quantities of Tramadol tablets to unauthorized private hospitals. NCB's team raided Amit Bhandari's warehouse, and during this, the central agency recovered 31,700 Tramadol tablets. For the unversed, Tramadol is a controlled substance often misused as a narcotic. According to officials, the tablets were being supplied without proper documentation to non-licensed hospitals, including Life Care and Cooperative Hospitals.
Union Home Ministry led by Amit Shah issued a statement on X in which he said, "Bharat is axing down drug cartels with ruthless aggression. The Amritsar Zonal Unit of the NCB axed a drug diversion cartel through a 4-month-long operation across 4 states, seizing drugs worth ₹547 crore and arresting 15. It is a giant stride towards building a drug-free Bharat under the vision of PM Shri
@narendramodi Ji. Congratulations to Team NCB."
What happened to Amit Bhandari?
As per the information received, after Amit Bhandari was arrested on May 1, 2025; he was produced before Judicial Magistrate on May 2. From there, Bhandari been remanded to police custody for two days. The NCB confirmed that several more arrests are expected in connection with this case.
As per NCB, the hospitals involved had no license or authorization to store or administer Tramadol. The investigation revealed a well-organized drug diversion racket, where narcotics were being supplied directly from the pharma company to unlicensed medical institutions.
As per MedilinePlus, Tramadol is generally used to relieve severe and persistent pain in people who are expected to need an opioid pain medication to relieve pain around-the-clock for a long time and who cannot be treated with other pain medications.