Varanasi, 15 February. The Lucknow unit of the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a person from Varanasi in connection with illegal storage and smuggling of codeine-laced cough syrup. Officials gave this information on Sunday. According to officials, the accused identified as Amit Yadav, resident of Maidagin, Varanasi, was arrested near Harhua Ring Road on Saturday.
STF officials said that a case was registered against the accused in Lucknow’s Sushant Golf City police station on charges of cough syrup smuggling and he was absconding. He said, “During interrogation, Yadav told that he has been the student union president of Harishchandra Postgraduate College and the state secretary of the Samajwadi Party’s Yuva Sabha.” Officials said, “Amit Yadav confessed that he had met Shubham Jaiswal while studying in college. Shubham’s father Bhola Prasad’s company Shaili Traders was allegedly involved in smuggling of Abbott’s ‘Phensadyl’ cough syrup. “
It is said that cough syrup containing codeine is used as an intoxicant and is in great demand in West Bengal and Bangladesh. According to officials, out of greed for profit, Amit, on the instructions of Shubham, purchased more than one lakh bottles through his company ‘GL Surgical’ and sold them at higher prices by showing fake sales in the name of another company.
He told that cases of rioting, attempt to murder and fraud are already registered against him. Police are investigating an alleged illegal network linked to the storage and distribution of codeine cough syrup across the state. In December last year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had refuted the allegations of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey regarding alleged deaths due to fake medicines and codeine syrup, saying that no such case has come to the notice of the government.
The Chief Minister had also said that in this case, evidence has been found of the links of the accused with SP and by showing photographs in the House, he had claimed that one of the accused, Amit Yadav, was seen with SP President Akhilesh Yadav. He also alleged that the alleged kingpin of the case, Shubham Jaiswal, also had SP links and was Amit’s business partner.
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