Ranchi, 12 December. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday took major action in the case of illegal buying and selling of deadly cough syrup in the prestigious business establishment Shelly Traders in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Pratishthan Shaili is being considered as the main center of illegal syrup supply network. In Ranchi, ED also raided the warehouse and residence of businessman Shubham Jaiswal in Tupudana, from where information about seizure of many important documents and electronic equipment has come to light.
Initial investigation has indicated that the annual turnover of illegal cough syrup through Shelly Traders was more than Rs 5 crore. Investigating officials say that this business was using the drug supply chain to transport fake or banned syrups on a large scale to different districts. According to ED sources, they have started investigating the financial activities of many people in this case.
In this connection, Ranchi CA Vishnu Aggarwal has also come under the scanner of the agency. The allegations against him are that he may have played a role in legitimizing the financial transactions of some members of this network. Recently, after a consignment of deadly cough syrup was seized, the extent of the entire network came to light, after which the ED started investigation from the angle of money laundering.
ED sources say that there may be bigger revelations in the coming days and some more businessmen and agents may be summoned. In a major action, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started raiding 25 locations simultaneously in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. This action started at around seven in the morning.
According to sources, different ED teams conducted simultaneous raids in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Ahmedabad and Ranchi. The businessmen and agents associated with the supply chain, whose role has come to light in this gang, have been primarily targeted. The investigating agency suspects that this network is spread across several states and was operating the illegal drug business for a long time.
Enforcement Directorate raids in many cities in case of smuggling of cough syrup.
Cracking down on illegal smuggling of codeine-based cough syrup in Uttar Pradesh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday launched simultaneous raids in six cities. In this action taken as part of money laundering investigation, the agency searched a total of 25 locations and seized many important documents. According to sources, ED teams became active in Lucknow, Varanasi, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Jaunpur and Saharanpur early Friday.
In Lucknow, the agency conducted a long search at the luxurious residence of suspended STF constable Alok Pratap Singh, believed to be associated with this syndicate. Officials seized several suspicious documents, bank transaction records, digital devices and papers related to alleged hawala connections from Sushant’s Golf City home. Alok Pratap Singh is currently in STF custody.
On the other hand, in the same case, a day earlier, the police arrested two associates of fugitive Deepak Manwani, Suraj Mishra and Pritam Singh. Manwani was caught with a large quantity of codeine syrup, tablets, capsules and injections in a joint raid by the drug department and police on October 11.
ACP Krishna Nagar Rajneesh Verma said that during interrogation, Manwani had admitted that he used to buy illegal medicines from Suraj and Pritam and sell them to drug addicts. His another associate Arush Saxena is still absconding. On Thursday, police arrested Suraj from Baikunth Dham near VIP Road and Pritam from Bashahnagar.
Suraj is a resident of Atria Sadanpur in Sitapur and runs a pharmaceutical agency named ‘New Mangalam Ayurvedic’. Pritam is a resident of Badi Raja village in Bahraich and works in a family restaurant located in Puraniya. The campaign of agencies to destroy the illegal supply chain of codeine based drugs is continuously intensifying. Investigating agencies say that this network was spreading rapidly in the state, and coordinated action will continue to root it out.
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