Hundreds of Gyms across Goa selling expired, spurious or banned health products, supplements

PANAJI: With the registration of an FIR at the Oshiwara police station in suburban Mumbai, against actor-bodybuilder and entrepreneur Sahil Khan by the Mumbai police today, and the highly controversial attempted suicide of a former Mr India and Mr Olympia aspirant Manoj Patil, a huge Rs 300 crore health and bodybuilding products and supplements scam (in Mumbai, Delhi and other states) has come to light.

Our reporters and freelance journalists associated with Indyatv.in, covered more than 40 gyms or gym brand franchises/centres and health studios, both in North and South Goa over the last two days, working as undercover health, fitness and bodybuilding enthusiasts, seeking to purchase health supplements and bodybuilding essentials, including steroids, amps and other banned products and injections, used by bodybuilders to build muscle mass and tone. ALSO READ: Due to inaction by Govt, Goa loses out on more than 50 percent charter flights from Russia

We targeted gym trainers and gym managers and in almost all cases, we were told that the list of controversial products we showed them, could be procured for a price within few days to a week, provided of course we took up a membership at the gym/health centre.

Of course, the ‘price’ was much higher than the Mumbai banned bodybuilding products underground market and double or triple that of the online Darknet market.

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None of these products on our list are approved by the Goa or Maharashtra FDA authorities and some of them are outright illegal, with 2-3 shots (injection) products falling under the stringent provisions of the NDPS Act.

What was really alarming was the fact that nobody bothered to ask or inquire of our undercover reporters anything about their past health or medical history or any medical problems and lifestyle diseases like diabetes or liver disease. If you join my gym or centre and want to loose fat and weight and build muscle mass within 3 weeks (quite impossible otherwise), we will provide you at a cost, special health products (read steroids), with no questions asked, was the common refrain at all the venues we checked with.

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We tried to contact the Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Goa CM and Home Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant for their feedback and comments on how such banned products and illegal drugs like Amps or Adenosine MonoPhosphate are available easily and for the asking with gym trainers and others connected to the bodybuilding biz in the coastal state, but were unable to reach both of them as our story got published after office hours.

We will update this story as and when the Health Minister, under whose watch the State FDA falls, and the State Home Minister and CM respond to us.

We have not mentioned the individual names of the gyms and health centers, because the purpose of this article is not to pick on individual brands and gymnasiums, but only to ascertain and identify the general availability of such harmful products in the state.