Auto driver held for transporting oxytocin

Bahadurpura: The Hyderabad Commissionerate South Zone Task Force sleuths arrested an auto driver, Mohammed Ismail, 35, a resident of Bidar, for illegally transporting oxytocin from Bidar to Hyderabad and seized 1920 bottles of the banned drug from his possession.

According to Task Force sleuths, Ismail along with the absconding accused Imtiyaz, a resident of Baba Nagar, were illegally transporting 100 ml bottles of oxytocin without any label and manufacturing details in an auto from Bidar to Hyderabad.

Imtiyaz supplies oxytocin to dairy farm owners illegally in Hyderabad. The dairy farm owners place orders as per their requirement with Imtiyaz, who in turn delivers oxytocin through auto drivers like Mohammed Ismail. He gives the contact number of persons to whom the drug is to be delivered.

As soon as he reaches the outskirts of Hyderabad, he contacts them on phone and delivers the bottles to concerned parties. The delivery is done on the outskirts of the city so that the dairy farm owners could avoid the risk of being identified.

The Union Health Ministry imposed a ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, a life-saving drug for new mothers. The reason for the ban is the misuse of oxytocin in dairy animals, like buffaloes, to increase milk production.

Its intake has been creating several side-effects on humans as well as milch animals. The arrested accused along with seized property were handed over to Bahadurpura police for further action.