The health department's drug control administration on Thursady seized 46 cartons of the banned drug Oxytocin from the Patna Junction's parcel office.

It is a hormonal drug used to speed up labour and to stop bleeding post delivery. According to the drug control administration, Oxytocin is banned under the Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940. As per the norm, it should be directly sold to hospitals and should not be available at pharmacies.

Drug control administration officials said a man called Dilip Kumar had made the bookings for the Oxytocin cartons which he wanted to be delivered to various places, including Gaya, Ludhiana, Delhi and Tatanagar (Jamshedpur).

An official of the drug control administration, who was part of the raid team, said: "What is suspicious that the name of the person who has made the booking is Dilip Kumar while the name of the person to whom the drugs were supposed to be delivered is also Dilip Kumar. The parcel officials could only provide us contact numbers of the persons to whom the drugs were supposed to be delivered but we are unable to contact the person on the number made available by the parcel office."

The drug control administration said it would lodge an FIR in this regard. "Sections under violation of 26 (A) of the Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940, would be imposed. According to the act, selling banned products is a cognisable and non-bailable offence," added the official.

Experts said the misuse of the banned drug can have an adverse impact on health.

Gynaecologist Manju Gita Mishra said the drug is misused to increase the delivery speed. "Some people give overdose of the drug to increase labour speed. It could result in rupture of the urinary tract," she said.

Harihar Dixit, head of the pharmacology department of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), said the drug is often used by milkmen to increase milk production in cattle. "This is a hormone drug. If a hormone drug is taken , it will definitely interfere with the hormonal balance of the body. If an expectant woman consumes milk injected with Oxytocin, it can result in hormonal imbalance and they can suffer from lactation and other problems," he said.