TWO flats in Chennai belonging to the promoter of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Coldrif cough syrup linked to the death of at least 20 children in Madhya Pradesh, have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday. The assets, located at Kodambakkam in Tamil Nadu’s capital city, are owned by G Ranganathan and his family members, it said in a statement.

 

The value of the flats is Rs 2.04 crore, the statement said. Ranganathan was arrested by Madhya Pradesh Police in October. The agency alleged Sresan Pharma indulged in “rampant unfair trade practices to suppress its manufacturing costs and increase profits which are nothing but proceeds of crime (under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act).” Probe found that the manufacturer used industry-grade raw materials in the manufacturing of medicines instead of pharma-grade raw materials “without” proper quality checks. “Such materials were being purchased in cash without invoices to avoid creation of records,” the ED said.

 

Though the officials of the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department were in frequent touch with the proprietor of Sresan Pharma, the annual inspections mandated as per the Drug and Cosmetic Rules, were “not” conducted, it claimed. The ED booked a money laundering case against the accused taking cognisance of two FIRs, one filed by the Madhya Pradesh Police and other by the Tamil Nadu Police. The MP Police complaint alleged that Coldrif contained toxic glycol compounds and caused multiple incidents of acute renal failure in children leading to the death of at least 20 children in the state.

 

 

 

THE Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force has arrested a man from Lucknow in connection with illegal storage and trade of banned cough syrup and other drugs containing codeine, police said. According to a statement issued by the office of the Director General of Police on Tuesday, the Special Task Force (STF) had been receiving information about the illegal storage and trade of Phensedyl cough syrup and other drugs containing codeine for use as intoxicants. The informants revealed that these drugs were being sent to other parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh. Following this, the STF and the Food Safety and Pharmaceuticals Department formed a joint investigation committee, which subsequently recovered a large quantity of illicit Phensedyl cough syrup. A case was registered at Sushant Golf City police station following this.