LUCKNOW, July 20 -- Raids in two Uttar Pradesh districts have allegedly uncovered an interstate network involved in counterfeit, illegally stocked and narcotic medicines. The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) and UP Police seized suspected medicines worth over Rs.1.37 crore during coordinated operations in Lucknow and Gonda. Officials described it as one of the state's biggest recent anti-counterfeit drug drives. Action has been initiated against eight accused, one person has been arrested and criminal cases have been registered under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Investigators alleged the supply chain stretched from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh. The investigation began on July 8 and 9 when FSDA drug inspectors Sandesh Maurya and Vivek Kumar Singh, along with Lucknow Police, raided an illegal warehouse in Aminabad. Officials found thousands of strips and cartons of allopathic medicines allegedly stocked without a valid licence. Printing defects and spelling errors on labels of several leading pharmaceutical brands raised suspicion that medicines were counterfeit. The team collected 27 samples for laboratory examination, while the remaining stock, valued at around Rs.21 lakh, was sealed after obtaining court permission. Leads recovered during the Aminabad raid took investigators to another alleged warehouse in Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT). Officials allegedly found medicines worth nearly Rs.3 lakh stored without authorisation. Four samples were collected for testing and stock was sealed. htc...