Varanasi Police seized 30,000 bottles of banned codeine-based cough syrup worth Rs 60 lakh from a godown. Two suspects were arrested. The godown is linked to an associate of Shubham Jaiswal, a key accused in the smuggling racket.
Major Cough Syrup Bust in Varanasi
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 Rs 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 Rs 60,00,000. The land of this illegal godown is in the name of Manoj Kumar Yadav, a close associate of Shubham Jaiswal... 2 suspects have been arrested at the spot..."
Legal Challenges and Key Accused
The accused in the recent alleged cough syrup smuggling case in Varanasi, Shubham Jaiswal, who faces cases in Varanasi and Ghaziabad, has sought 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-laced cough syrup.
Meanwhile, Bhola Prasad Jaiswal has also challenged the FIR in the High Court. He was arrested by Sonbhadra Police in Kolkata, signalling intensified action against the alleged smuggling network. Several other accused have also approached the Allahabad High Court in the same case, seeking relief.
Political Fallout and Parliamentary Scrutiny
On December 4, during the ongoing winter session, Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh said that they are trying to raise "burning issues in Parliament, including the alleged cough syrup case in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own constituency. "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 4 years. This should be investigated in detail, and the PM should take strict cognisance of this," Singh told ANI.
The allegations of cough syrup smuggling pertain to allegations 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)
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