Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 10 (HBTV): In a major crackdown on the illegal trade of banned codeine-based cough syrup, Varanasi Police on Tuesday seized around 30,000 bottles of prohibited cough syrup worth approximately INR 60 lakh from a godown in the city.
Speaking to ANI, Saravanan Thangamani, DCP Crime, Varanasi, said, 'The Varanasi Commissioner is continuously taking action against codeine-containing cough syrup. There is a godown here where this cough syrup is kept in huge quantities. Around 30,000 bottles of codeine-containing cough syrup have been seized, whose estimated value is around INR 60,00,000. The land of this illegal godown is in the name of Manoj Kumar Yadav, a close associate of Shubham Jaiswal. Two suspects have been arrested at the spot.'
The accused in the alleged cough syrup smuggling case, Shubham Jaiswal, who faces cases in Varanasi and Ghaziabad, has sought the quashing of the FIR and a stay on his arrest. An FIR under the NDPS Act was registered on November 15 at Varanasi's Kotwali police station, naming Shubham, his father Bhola Prasad Jaiswal and 28 others in the trafficking of banned codeine-based cough syrup.
Bhola Prasad Jaiswal has also challenged the FIR in the High Court. He was arrested by Sonbhadra Police in Kolkata, indicating intensified action against the alleged smuggling network. Several other accused have approached the Allahabad High Court in the same case seeking relief.
On December 4, during the ongoing winter session, Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh said they were trying to raise ‘burning issues’ in Parliament, including the alleged cough syrup case in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency. He told ANI, 'We have been trying to raise the burning issues of Varanasi. The first is the matter of poisonous cough syrup going on in the PM's constituency for four years. This should be investigated in detail, and the PM should take strict cognisance of this.'
The allegations relate to claims of pharmaceutical companies smuggling codeine-containing cough syrup in Varanasi. Cases have been filed against a total of 26 firms by the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drugs Department. (ANI)