Man arrested from Mirzapur for sale of codeine-based syrup worth Rs 15 crore: UP Police

Mirzapur (UP), Dec 27 (PTI) A man allegedly involved in the illegal sale of codeine-based cough syrup was arrested from the Mirzapur district by police on Saturday, officials said.

The accused has been identified as Krishna Kumar Yadav, a resident of Chandauli district. He was a proprietor of a medical shop and carried a reward of Rs 25,000, according to police.

Yadav's shop traded the cough syrup worth Rs 15 crore, police said.

A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the BNS and the NDPS Act, an official statement said.

It added that the accused had received a total supply of 4,50,850 bottles of 100ml codeine-based cough syrup from various firms.

During the investigation, it was found that his firm, City Medisales, was not operational at the given location, and no drug business was being conducted there, police said.

The investigation also revealed that the firm had accounts in Bank of Maharashtra, Sigra/Mughalsarai and another bank, which had a turnover of approximately Rs 15 crore. The GST Departments in Varanasi and New Delhi have been contacted to obtain information regarding the bills for the goods sent to the firm from various suppliers in Delhi, the numbers of the vehicles used for transportation, and traceability details, police said in the statement.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said in the state Assembly that the government has registered 79 cases, named 225 people and arrested 78 accused pertaining to the cough syrup issue.

Raids have been conducted at 134 firms, and transactions linked to this racket are under the Special Task Force investigation.

He said the Food Safety and Drug Administration department had tested more than 1,000 cough syrup samples in the state. PTI COR NAV PRK PRK