ED raids 25 sites across states in probe into UP illegal cough syrup racket

The searches are covering 25 premises in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh apart from those located in Ranchi and Ahmedabad, officials said

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided multiple locations in various states as part of a money laundering investigation against an alleged illegal cough syrup trade racket in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

The searches are covering 25 premises in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh apart from those located in Ranchi and Ahmedabad, they said.

The federal probe agency has booked a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the alleged illegal trade.

Locations linked to absconding main accused Shubham Jaiswal and his alleged associates Alok Singh, Amit Singh and some others, cough syrup manufacturers and a Chartered Accountant (CA) Vishnu Aggarwal are being raided, according to ED officials.

The ED action is based on about 30 UP Police FIRs that were registered after the state government took cognisance of incidents related to misuse of codeine-based cough syrups (CBCS), their illegal manufacturing, trade and transport including across the Bangladesh border.

The total proceeds of crime estimated in the case is about Rs 1,000 crore, the ED officials.

Main accused Shubham Jaiswal is understood to have fled to Dubai while his father has been arrested by UP Police. A total of 32 persons have been taken into custody by the state police till now which has constituted a SIT to probe the case, the officials said.