A ghost pharmaceutical firm, Dr Trustmed, unearthed by the Himachal Pradesh Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Baddi two days ago, obtained a GST registration only in mid-June this year, nearly six months after allegedly securing a Rs 5-lakh medicine manufacturing order from a Kaithal-based wholesaler.
The state GST department, which initiated an inquiry following media reports, found that the GST registration had been obtained in the name of Lalita Kumari. Officials said no sale or purchase transactions were reflected on the GST portal under the registration. “Our inquiry found no business activity linked to the GST number,” a state GST official said.
The case has stunned the DCA as its raid on the firm’s premises revealed neither a manufacturing facility nor any agreement with a licensed manufacturer to produce medicines.
According to an FIR lodged by Hansraj Verma, legal consultant to KB Enterprises, Kaithal, he received a call on December 27, 2025, from a woman identifying herself as Sejal Verma, claiming to represent Dr Trustmed, a licensed pharmaceutical manufacturer in Baddi. She later connected him with Ajay Dogra, who projected himself as the firm’s owner and secured an order worth Rs 5 lakh after sharing documents to establish the firm’s credibility.
Dogra sent an invoice of Rs 3.25 lakh on December 30 and, on January 7, shared a screenshot of an Indian Overseas Bank cheque, asking for payment to that account. Verma transferred Rs 21,000 on January 8. On January 17, a graphic designer, Sanjay Kumar, sent photographs of medicine packs, while Dogra later forwarded copies of Dr Trustmed’s manufacturing licence in Lalita Kumari’s name and a GST number.
After securing another payment of Rs 61,000 on March 5 without dispatching any medicines, suspicion grew, prompting Verma to file a complaint on June 17. The Kaithal police booked Dogra, Lalita Kumari, Sejal Verma and Sanjay Kumar for cheating, forgery, using forged documents and criminal conspiracy. Kumar was arrested and remanded to two days’ police custody on July 23.