Chandigarh: Chemists in Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali held protests on Tuesday against the alleged illegal and arbitrary arrest of three medicine wholesalers by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Members of the Panchkula District Chemists Association gathered near Sector 7-8-17-18 Chowk in Panchkula to demonstrate, while chemists in Chandigarh and Mohali kept their shops closed for two hours and held protests near Matka Chowk and Phase 7-8 Light Point, respectively.
The chemists’ associations said the wholesalers were arrested for supplying certain controlled drugs to a retail shop in Pinjore, which had only a partial drug licence. They claimed that neither the drug department nor the buyer had informed the suppliers about the restrictions on licences, which led to compliance issues.
The associations condemned the detention of the wholesalers, alleging that they have been in custody for the past two weeks without valid reason. They demanded their immediate release and urged authorities to ensure proper procedures and transparent communication about licensing restrictions in the future.
“This protest is to show that we have always followed the law. The arrested wholesalers fully cooperated with the NCB during the investigation, yet they have been lodged in Ambala jail for 12 days without any clarity,” said DCAP president Mohinder Kakkar and Bibi Singhal.
