The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration has initiated a probe into the presence of worms in some capsules manufactured by a Goan pharmaceutical company.

Live worms were detected in Elferri capsules by a patient who had purchased the medicine from a chemist in Ramdeshpeth, Nagpur, on Tuesday.

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FDA Commissioner Uttam Khobragade said in Mumbai on Wednesday that a batch of the capsule has been withdrawn from the state.

Samples of batch no. ERL 2006 with manufacturing date of May 2002 and expiry in April 2004, have been collected and sent for testing, FDA sources said.

Once laboratory reports are received, the FDA will prosecute the Goa-based company, Khobragade said.

Meanwhile, FDA Assistant Commissioner A P Choudhury said in Nagpur that the administration has prohibited a stock of 2,833 capsules in the city, though they have not found any worm in it.