New Delhi [India], December 10 (HBTV): The Enforcement Directorate has attached industrial land in Haryana belonging to a Himachal Pradesh-based company accused of diverting the codeine-based cough syrup Cocrex for illicit drug use.
According to the agency, its Jammu sub-zonal office has provisionally attached the immovable property worth INR 1 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The attached asset comprises industrial land in Panipat, Haryana, owned by Vidit Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh.
As per the ED statement, the investigation stems from a case registered by the Jammu division of the Narcotics Control Bureau against Vidit Healthcare (Managing Partner Neeraj Bhatia), Niket Kansal and others for the illegal diversion of codeine-based cough syrup for misuse as an intoxicant or drug.
The ED said its investigation revealed that Vidit Healthcare supplied CBCS to entities such as S S Industries, Kansal Industries, Nouveta Pharma, Kansal Pharmaceuticals and N K Pharmaceuticals — all operated and controlled by Delhi resident Niket Kansal — between 2018 and 2024, amounting to approximately INR 16.74 crore. Part of the illegally diverted syrup was supplied to Raees Ahmed Bhat of Srinagar, from whom large quantities of CBCS were seized on January 14, 2024, by the NCB.
The agency found that Vidit Healthcare earned an estimated gross profit of INR 2.92 crore as proceeds of crime from the sale of codeine-based cough syrup to the Kansal-linked entities.
Earlier in the case, the ED conducted searches at the premises of Neeraj Bhatia and Niket Kansal on February 13 this year, resulting in the seizure of cash amounting to INR 32 lakh and jewellery valued at INR 1.61 crore from Bhatia's residence. (ANI)