MUMBAI, June 28 -- Following the suspension of the licence of Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Maharashtra public health department has launched a probe into allegations of illegal diversion of blood stocks from the blood bank. A team comprising officials from the public health department visited the Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank on Saturday to begin the inquiry. "Unlike the FDA inquiry, which focused on issues related to the quality and storage of blood stock, this committee is examining complaints of illegal transfer of blood bags to other blood banks, whether financial transactions were involved and whether the transfers were carried out as per norms," said Dr Suhas Mohnalkar, director of the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC), told HT. He said that the committee would scrutinise the blood bank's accounts and records for the past three years and submit its findings to the director of health services. Dr Mohnalkar said that the SBTC, which also oversees the blood bank, had detected serious irregularities in its functioning during an inspection conducted in December 2025 and January 2026. "The SBTC found that 55 units of blood collected through health camps had been illegally diverted to other parties. The public relations officer of Mahanagar Blood Bank, Ajay Bhise, was penalised Rs.55,000, at the rate of Rs.1,000 per blood bag," he said. A representative of the blood bank, in response to this, said they would soon submit the compliance report and hoped to resume distribution of the nearly 500 units of blood currently in their custody....