Lucknow: The special task force of UP Police on Thursday arrested seven people associated with a racket that sold contaminated and chemically produced fake blood to patients in Lucknow.

Eight units of fake blood were seized in a raid conducted by STF in two hospitals of Madiaon area of the state capital.

The head of the racket, Naseem was arrested and after preliminary investigation, few more hospitals in Faizullaganj and Cantonment area were also raided on Thursday night. A press conference on the case is likely to be held at the DGP’s office on Friday.

According to STF sources, the racket had been operating in Madiaon area for some time. The STF team led by Deputy SP Amit Nagar did a recce of the blood banks and hospitals for fifteen days and after gathering substantial evidence, the team raided the hospitals.

Investigations revealed that the culprits used to dilute blood units with water and chemicals in order to increase its quantity. The whole operation was being conducted without any professional medical help from doctors. In fact, the arrested people have only studied till the intermediate level.

The gang used to buy blood from poor labourers and rickshaw-pullers at the rate of Rs 1,000-1,200 per unit. After collecting a sufficient quantity, the members used to dilute the blood with chemical substances and sell it further at the price of Rs 3,500 per unit.