Pharma staff among eight held for stealing over Rs 2 crore worth Semaglutide powder at Dr Reddy's Lab in Andra Pradesh's Srikakulam
SRIKAKULAM: The JR Puram police in Srikakulam district have apprehended a gang of eight individuals, which includes employees of a pharma company, in connection with the theft of around 450 gms of Semaglutide powder, an anti-diabetic medicine, valued at over Rs two crore from Dr Reddy's Laboratories warehouse situated at Pydibheemavaram in the district.
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The arrested persons have been identified as Dronadulu Suresh (31), a chemist at Dr Reddy's Lab, Gajula Venkata Raghavendra (33), warehouse team member at Dr Reddy's Lab, N Appala Naidu (28), a chemist, Gollapalli Kantarao (35), a chemist, Guntaka Suresh, Reddy (40), a chemist at production section MSN Pharma company in Hyderabad, Ajmeera Tirupathi (32), a research analytical at Life scan Pharma Company in Hyderabad, Kalluri Balakrishna, (33) and B Naveen Kumar 33)
Srikakulam district police Chief KV Maheswara Reddy stated that Semaglutide medicine was produced at Dr Reddy's Lab production unit and subsequently stored in the freezer room of the FG warehouse on February 17, 2025.
Staff members later discovered that the medicine had been stolen from the freezer room on February 23, 2025.
Similarly, during the audit, staff observed that 3.38 kgs of Palladium Acetate, valued at over Rs60 lakh and stored at the warehouse within the production unit of Dr Reddy's Lab, had been stolen in May this year.
The police said Semaglutide is an anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and an anti-obesity medication used for long-term weight management.
It is a peptide similar to the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), modified with a side chain.It can be administered by subcutaneous injection or taken orally.
Palladium acetate, or palladium(II) acetate, is a chemical compound.It is a red-brown solid and is widely used as a catalyst in various organic reactions, particularly crosscoupling reactions like Suzuki and Heck reaction
Based on the complaint, the police have formed three special teams to solve the grave offences. The JR Puram police inspector M Avatharam along with his team sub-inspector S Chiranjeevi and G Laxman Rao investigated the case in multiple angles and identified the culprits and nabbed the accused and recovered around 440 gms of stolen Semaglutide powder and also around 460 gms of fake Semaglutide powder from them.
Guntaka Suresh, Reddy (40), a chemist at production section MSN Pharma Company in Hyderabad was the receiver of the stolen chemicals.
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