It has been found that Swapnil Kesari, Dinesh Kumar Yadav, and Ashish Yadav opened three shell pharma companies with the names of Singh Medicos, Al-Ukba, and SP Pharma to carry out their illegal activities.
Six more arrested in cough syrup case
Varanasi: Total of six wanted accused were arrested in Varanasi and Mirzapur in the codeine cough syrup case on Sunday and Saturday. One of the accused carried a reward of Rs 25,000.
On Saturday, the Police arrested two accused Vishnu Kumar Pandey and Lokesh Agrawal from Varanasi. They both are residents of the Sarnath. They were arrested for committing forgery and knowingly using forged purchase-sale invoices for buying and selling codeine-based drugs.
The Rohaniya Police on Sunday arrested three accused. They are Swapnil Kesari who is from Chandauli district, and Dinesh Kumar Yadav and Ashish Yadav. They both are residents of Varanasi.
Shell Companies
It has been found that Swapnil Kesari, Dinesh Kumar Yadav, and Ashish Yadav opened three shell pharma companies with the names of Singh Medicos, Al-Ukba, and SP Pharma to carry out their illegal activities.
Investigations into the codeine-based cough syrup racket have revealed an extensive network involving illegal storage, fake billing, and cross-border smuggling.
Police said the cough syrup was secretly stored at undisclosed locations on the instructions of Shubham Jaiswal and later smuggled to Bangladesh, where it was sold at nearly ten times its original price.
According to investigators, cash proceeds and forged invoices were routed to Dinesh Yadav and Ashish Yadav through Shubham Jaiswal and his associate Devesh. Based on fake bills prepared under Jaiswal’s directions, Swapnil Kesari deposited large sums of cash into multiple bank accounts on different dates.
The money was subsequently transferred through several intermediary firms before reaching companies linked to Shubham Jaiswal.
During interrogation, the accused admitted to their involvement, stating that they had been engaged in the purchase and sale of medicines for several years. Police said the group, along with Shubham Jaiswal, had floated three medical agency firms in Chandauli district, registering them in the names of unrelated individuals.
Using these firms, they ordered New Phensedyl and Escof cough syrup, stored the consignments at concealed locations across Varanasi, Chandauli, and nearby districts, and sold them illegally.
In a major breakthrough, Mirzapur police on Saturday arrested Krishna Kumar Yadav, a wanted accused carrying a reward of ₹25,000. Investigators said Krishna had placed orders for nearly 4.5 lakh bottles of Escof cough syrup from five firms, though the transactions existed only on paper.
His firm, City Medisales, was found to be non-operational, despite a reported ₹15 crore turnover across three of its bank accounts.
Following an investigation by Drug Inspector Santosh Patel, FIRs were registered against four firms involved in the illegal supply of codeine-based cough syrup.
While Akshat Yadav, Ajit Yadav, and Shivam Dwivedi were arrested earlier, one accused had remained absconding, prompting police to announce a ₹25,000 reward for his arrest.
Providing further details, Chunar Circle Officer Manjari Rao said Krishna Kumar, a resident of Chandauli district, had set up his firm in Hariharpur Mathana under the Jamalpur police station area.
Investigations revealed that between April 14 and June 26, a total of 4.5 lakh bottles of 100 ml Escof cough syrup were supplied to City Medisales in 10 consignments from several Delhi-based firms.
