Sana Negi and Prashant Kheti were identified as the two major players in the racket. Bolangir Police said as part of ‘Mission Cough Syrup’, which is a crackdown against the cough syrup mafia, they busted an interstate organised racket on Sunday.
Balangir (Odisha): In a major crackdown, Odisha police have busted a racket of cough syrup in Balangir under its ‘Mission Cough Syrup’ drive. As many as 35 suspected members of the ‘cough syrup mafia’ were arrested by the Bolangir Police. Police informed further that ‘Eskuf’ cough syrup bottles, worth Rs 35 lakh, were seized from the arrested persons.
Read More: Supreme Court Directs Authorities To Remove Mosque Inside Allahabad HC Complex Within 3 Months
According to police, Sana Negi and Prashant Kheti were identified as the two major players in the racket. Bolangir Police said as part of ‘Mission Cough Syrup’, which is a crackdown against the cough syrup mafia, they busted an interstate organised racket on Sunday.
The racket is said to be the largest to have been busted by the Balangir Police, so far. Balangir SP Nitin Kushalkar said on the basis of local and technical intelligence and pieces of evidence gathered during the investigation, the police busted the racket involved in illegal procurement, transportation and selling of Eskuf Syrup in Bolangir and the neighbouring district and destroyed the entire chain ranging from Bolangir to West Bengal.
The SP said that the manufacturer is based in Himachal Pradesh with the firm registered in Haryana. “The cough syrup are supplied to Kolkata and brought to Cuttack through a transporter. The accused then transport and supply those to other districts in the state,” he said.
Read More: Centre Likely To Close E-Pharmacies Over Data Misuse: Report
Besides 12,960 Eskuf Syrup bottles, one country-made pistol, 17 mobile phones, one Mahindra XUV Vehicle, two Mahindra Pick UP vans, one Tata ACE Vehicle, two motorcycles and Rs 7,500 in cash, gold jewellery and other articles were seized from them. An amount of Rs. 2 crores belonging to the supplier company, M/s. Daffodil Drugs Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata, was also frozen.
“The modus operandi of the cough syrup mafia is to collect and distribute them in the wee hours, mostly 3 am, 4 am and 5 am. This is why the police had to work round the clock to bust the racket. Prashant Kheti has been arrested and Sana Negi will soon be caught,” the SP informed.
