BHUBANESWAR : The Odisha police has busted a racket involved in sale and supply of cough syrup in Balangir as part of their “Mission Cough Syrup” campaign. The Balangir Police detained up to 35 alleged “cough syrup mafia” participants.
Police added that the arrested individuals had bottles of “Eskuf” cough syrup worth Rs 35 lakh that had been seized. Eskuf Syrup contains codeine, a category C medication that may have adverse effects on the foetus and should not be used while pregnant.
According to police, Sana Negi and Prashant Kheti were identified as the two major players in the racket. Bolangir Police said as part of ‘Mission Cough Syrup’, which is a crackdown against the cough syrup mafia, they busted an interstate organised racket on Sunday.
According to Balangir SP Nitin Kushalkar, the police busted the ring involved in the illegal purchase, transportation, and sale of Eskuf syrup in Balangir and the neighbouring district and destroyed the entire chain running from Bolangir to West Bengal. It was done on the basis of local and technical intelligence as well as pieces of evidence gathered during the investigation.