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Varanasi Police have uncovered a sprawling cough syrup smuggling network, seized hundreds of cartons and frozen bank accounts yet the alleged kingpin has slipped abroad. How deep does this racket go, and who’s still pulling the strings?
The hunt for illegal cough syrup kingpin Shubham Jaiswal Intensifies
Varanasi: The Varanasi Police have intensified their crackdown on a large-scale cough syrup smuggling racket, announcing Rs 25,000 cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of alleged kingpin Shubham Jaiswal and his associate Mahesh, the husband of the village head in Bhadvar.
This marks the first reward declaration by the Police Commissionerate in connection with the case. The move follows the seizure of 500 cartons of cough syrup from a warehouse beneath a gym in Bhadvar on November 28.
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The facility is believed to be owned by Mahesh. As both accused continued to evade arrest, police escalated action with formal bounty announcements.
Rohanian Police have frozen Mahesh’s Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank accounts for non-cooperation and absconding. Both accounts together contain nearly Rs 10 lakh, now barred from any withdrawal or transaction.
The investigation widened significantly after links emerged in Ghaziabad. Saurabh Tyagi, owner of RK Pharma, and his associate Shivanand alias Shiva were found to be central facilitators in the racket. Both are currently lodged in the Ghaziabad district jail.
Police have obtained a warrant-B to bring them to Varanasi. They will be produced in court on December 16 and subsequently remanded to Varanasi district jail for further interrogation.
A major breakthrough came from CCTV footage recovered from the Bhadvar warehouse, capturing a truck loaded with the seized cough syrup consignment. Toll booth records led investigators to identify the truck and trace it back to a Ghaziabad-based transporter.
The truck owner confirmed that the entire consignment originated in Ghaziabad and was loaded by Shivanand on the instructions of Saurabh expanding the probe to a deeper, organised supply chain.
A GPS location shared by the transporter guided police to Sujabad, though locating the exact godown proved challenging. A Tata Magic parked nearby drew suspicion; it was registered to Azad Jaiswal, already arrested earlier in the case.
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A subsequent raid on a house near the vehicle led to the recovery of 173 additional cartons of cough syrup, further exposing the network’s scale.
Sources indicate that Shubham Jaiswal has fled to Dubai. Varanasi Police, working with the SIT, are pursuing legal processes to bring him back to India. His property is also reportedly under advanced stages of attachment.
Officials say the case is monitored daily, with significant portions of the syndicate already uncovered. Search operations continue to track down the remaining members of the network.
