Five persons including three employees of Verdant Life Sciences Private Limited, a unit at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, Parawada, were arrested on Thursday on charges of stealing chemical ingredients used for preparation of various drugs from the company premises and selling those for pecuniary gains.

The Parawada Police that made the arrests also recovered stolen chemicals including 250 kg bulk drugs and about six tonnes of solvents, all worth ₹22 lakh from the possession of the accused.

The accused have been identified as K. Parasuram, a native of Achanta in West Godavari district and the Senior General Manager of the firm (working since last eight months), Assistant General Manager R. Srinivasa Rao from Sattenapalli village in Guntur district and supervisor K. Devudu Babu from K Kotapadu mandal of Visakhapatnam district.

Meanwhile another two accused, who were allegedly the receivers of the stolen chemicals— N. Venkateswara Reddy, M. Srinivasa Reddy, both residents of Hyderabad—were also nabbed by the police.

Easy money

“Parasuram, Srinivasa Rao and Devudu Babu allegedly have been stealing the chemical ingredients from the firm with an intention to spin easy money,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-II) Adnan Nayeem told the media here on Thursday.

The stolen property included 10 kg Olmesartan Medoxomil powder, 50 kg levocetirizine powder, 100 kg Sertraline HCL powder, 100 kg Telmisartan, three tonnes MDC solvents and three tonnes Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) solvents.

“A part of the chemicals was allegedly sold to Venkateswara Reddy and M. Srinivasa Reddy in Hyderabad, while the rest was still in the possession of the accused,” the DCP said.

Acting on a complaint lodged by the firm authorities, a case has been registered at Parawada police station and further investigation is on.

Acting on a tip-off, the accused were arrested and the lost property was recovered, the DCP added.