Bengaluru, Sept. 15 -- The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Karnataka Police has taken five persons into custody in connection with the fake drug racket case and traced the prime accused, identified as Prashant, to a country in the South Caucasus region of Western Asia, with steps underway to secure his extradition to India, officials said.

The development marks a major breakthrough in the ongoing investigation into one of the state's counterfeit medicine networks.

According to the SIT, searches have so far been conducted at more than 10 locations as part of the probe. Five persons have been taken into custody in connection with the case.

Officials said Viresh Jain, one of the main accused allegedly involved in supplying the fake dr...