Cough syrup racket: Pharmacy owner arrested in UP's Mirzapur

Mirzapur (UP), Dec 24 (PTI) Amid an ongoing statewide crackdown on an alleged codeine-based cough syrup racket, police on Wednesday arrested a pharmacy owner here in connection with a case related to "irregularities" in the supply of cough syrup, officials said.

The accused, Shivam Dwivedi, proprietor of Sunrise Traders in Jamalpur Baripur under Adalhat police station area, was arrested under relevant sections of the BNS and the NDPS Act, police said.

According to the police, an FIR was registered at Adalhat police station on December 3, 2025, following the detection of irregularities in the supply of cough syrup. During investigation, it emerged that around 1,42,000 phials of Eskuf cough syrup were supplied to Sunrise Traders from Vanya Enterprises, New Delhi.

The police said the probe revealed that the firm was not found operational at its registered address and had allegedly opened only once or twice, without carrying out any genuine pharmaceutical business.

Further investigation revealed that the Aadhaar card address submitted for obtaining the drug licence was of Narayanpur in Mirzapur, while the Aadhaar details linked to the firm's bank account showed an address in Phulwariya area of Varanasi cantonment, indicating the use of forged documents, they added.

Investigators also found that Sunrise Traders maintained accounts with HDFC Bank and Central Bank of India branches in Varanasi, through which transactions amounting to approximately Rs 8.25 crore had taken place, the police said.

In a statement, the police said they have written to the GST office in Mirzapur seeking details related to invoices, transportation vehicle numbers and traceability of the consignments supplied to Sunrise Traders by Vanya Enterprises.

According to the police, Dwivedi was questioned on Wednesday and later arrested after sufficient evidence of his involvement in the case surfaced.

The action comes as Uttar Pradesh agencies conduct a wider probe into the alleged illegal trafficking, stocking and diversion of regulated codeine-based cough syrup, suspected to involve illicit trade worth hundreds of crores of rupees with links extending across multiple states. PTI COR KIS KVK KVK