MP minister denies link to Remdesivir row, slams Congress

The BJP minister's comments came a day after a man, accused in a case of alleged black-marketing of Remdesivir here, claimed he received vials of the key anti-viral drug from the driver of Silawat's wife's car. 

The man, Punit Agrawal (27), driver of a vehicle hired from a private travel agency for a senior health department officer in Indore, was arrested on Monday night on charges of black-marketing Remdesivir, used in treating COVID-19. 

The driver of the ministers wifes car, Govind Rajput, came under cloud after a video went viral in which Agrawal is heard purportedly saying he got Remdesivir injections from Rajput. 

After the video surfaced, the opposition Congress attacked the minister and demanded his removal from the cabinet. On Wednesday itself, the minister had denied any involvement of his family in the matter. 

The Congress is now just a bundle of lies. I want to ask you, if a person comes to me under contract and if that man commits a murder, then will you say that Tulsiram Silawat has committed a murder? the minister told reporters on Thursday. 

Silawat challenged the Congress to prove the charges against him and said he had demanded an impartial probe into the matter. 

According to officials, Agrawal and Rajput work in the same travel agency and they were hired on their respective post on contractual basis. 

In a statement to the media before he was produced in a local court by the police, Agrawal claimed he got two injections from Rajput for Rs 14,000 each. 

Meanwhile, after the video of Agrawal went viral, police have suspended a head constable posted in the Vijay Nagar police station and removed a home guard from field duty. 

In the video, Agrawal was seen with handcuffs sitting in a police car after his arrest with two vials of Remdesivir. 

Disciplinary action (against head constable and home guard) was taken for negligence on duty while presenting Agrawal in the local court, Vijay Nagar police station in- charge Tehzeeb Qazi said.