No action against codeine 'bhaaiyo', Central agency raids only at places going to polls: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Jan 10 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday questioned why no central agency is investigating those involved in the codeine-laced cough syrup racket case in Uttar Pradesh, and claimed that raids are being carried out only in the poll-bound states.

Speaking to reporters here, Yadav said, "The codeine 'bhaaiyo' have amassed eight hundred crore rupees, but no ED or CBI is investigating them. Why is the ED only going to places where elections are being held?" The issue of illegal trade in codeine-based cough syrup has led to sustained political sparring between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition parties, particularly the SP.

The matter was also raised during the Winter session of the state Assembly, with SP members staging protests and disruptions inside and outside the House.

On the very first day of the session on December 19 last year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters that a state-level special investigation team with officers from the police and the Food Safety and Drug Administration is investigating the matter.

Adityanath said in the 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 investigation.

He said the FSDA had tested more than 1,000 cough syrup samples in the state.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate had lodged a money laundering case against key accused, Shubham Jaiswal and carried out multiple raids at various places in December last year, officials said.

The searches covered more than 25 premises in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, apart from those located in Ranchi and Ahmedabad, they said.

The locations included those of Jaiswal, his Chartered Accountant Vishnu Aggarwal, alleged associates Alok Singh (a dismissed UP Police constable), Amit Singh, Vishal Singh and some others, apart from godowns, offices and shops of several manufacturers, distributors and stockists of various codeine-based cough syrup traders. PTI NAV APL APL