Illegal smuggling of codeine cough syrup: Lookout circular issued against 4 people including Shubham Jaiswal with a reward of Rs 50,000.

Varanasi, 23 December. Amidst the ongoing allegations and counter-allegations in the Assembly regarding the investigation into illegal smuggling of codeine cough syrup, the Commissionerate Police has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against four accused including the main leader of the network, Shubham Jaiswal. This network was doing business worth crores of rupees through fake firms and bogus e-way bills.

Apart from Shubham, the names of Akash Pathak, Divesh Jaiswal and Amit Jaiswal are included in the lookout circular. Shubham is the owner of Ranchi-based Shaili Traders and during the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), he has been found to be the mastermind of this entire racket. Akash Pathak is a resident of Golghar Maidagin and is a close associate of Shubham and the one handling financial transactions. Divesh Jaiswal is the proprietor of DSA Pharma while Amit Jaiswal is a resident of Kazipura Khurd.

SIT investigation has revealed that under the direction of Shubham Jaiswal, the accused opened fake firms in the names of many youth of the city. Bank accounts, GST registration and other documents of these firms were kept in their possession. Cough syrup containing codeine was supplied by generating bogus e-way bills. 40 to 50 thousand rupees were given every month to the youth who were used in the name of fake firms.

Police has already announced a reward of Rs 50 thousand on the arrest of Shubham, a native of Prahlad Ghat, Kayastha Tola under Adampur police station of Varanasi. Apart from that, Mahesh Singh, who had a reward of Rs 25 thousand, is also absconding in this case. He is a resident of Bhadwar of Rohaniya police station area.

In fact, there are other businessmen also on the radar of SIT. These include Manoj Yadav and his son Lakshya Yadav (M/s Syndicate), resident of Visheshwarganj-Ausanganj, Rahul Yadav, resident of Sujabad and Ghanshyam and Ankush Singh of Khojwa. Codeine cough syrup worth Rs 60 lakh has already been recovered from Manoj Yadav’s warehouse in Sujabad.

DCP Kashi Zone Gaurav Banswal said that a lookout circular has been issued against the four main accused. SIT is continuously raiding and in coordination with the drug department, inputs related to buying and selling are being collected. Police claim that the search for other people associated with this network has also been intensified and major arrests will be made soon.