Cough syrup racket: Rs 38 crore assets of wanted accused under scanner
Varanasi: The net is tightening around a key accussed in codeine laced cough syrup trade, with Varanasi police preparing to seize assets linked to a wanted accused carrying a Rs 50,000 reward.
Police Commissioner Mohit Agarwal said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has traced assets worth around Rs 38 crore belonging to Shubham Jaiswal, who is under a look-out notice, and his family and placed the findings before the court.
Adityanath had clarified that codeine-based syrup is not manufactured in Uttar Pradesh, and the state only has stockists and wholesalers. Production takes place in states like Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The death cases that came to light were reported from other states and were linked to a syrup manufactured in Tamil Nadu, he said.
Calling the matter one of illegal diversion, not adulteration, the chief minister said wholesalers from districts including Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur were involved in diverting the syrup to states and countries where prohibition exists, leading to its misuse.
The state government had registered 79 cases, named 225 people and arrested 78 accused, while raids have been conducted at 134 firms, he said.
Uttar Pradesh Police is probing an alleged illegal network involved in the storage and distribution of highly regulated codeine-laced cough syrups across the state.
