Thane Health Officials Probe Illegal Blood Transfers At Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank
An inquiry team led by state health officials, including the deputy director of health services for the Thane circle, visited the Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank on Saturday to investigate the illegal diversion and transfer of blood stocks. The probe follows the recent suspension of the blood bank's license by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after serious irregularities were detected.
The committee, which also includes a Class-I pathologist and accounting officials, is scrutinizing the blood bank's accounts and records from the past three years. This investigation aims to determine if financial transactions were involved and whether the blood bag transfers were carried out against established norms.
According to Dr. Suhas Mohnalkar, director of the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC), the council had previously detected major irregularities during inspections conducted in December 2025 and January 2026.
The SBTC discovered that 55 units of blood collected through health camps had been illegally diverted to other parties. Following this discovery, the public relations officer of Mahanagar Blood Bank, Ajay Bhise, was penalized Rs 55,000, calculated at a rate of Rs 1,000 per diverted blood bag.
Unlike the FDA’s inquiry, which focused on the quality and storage of the blood stock, this health department committee is specifically probing the unauthorized transfers and financial transactions. The findings will be submitted to the director of health services for further action.
Currently, the FDA's suspension of the blood bank’s operations remains in force. The FDA stated it has not yet received a compliance report from the institution.
A representative from the Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank stated that they plan to submit the compliance report soon. The bank hopes to resume the distribution of approximately 500 units of blood currently held in its custody.
Meanwhile, health activists have raised concerns over the lack of criminal charges, questioning why police complaints have not been registered against those involved in the alleged forgery and cheating.
