SIT submits final report on codeine syrup racket, major crackdown and ₹50 lakh seizure in Etah

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the high-profile codeine-based cough syrup trafficking case in Uttar Pradesh has submitted its final report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The report exposes a vast network involving drug trafficking, hawala transactions, and alleged political links.

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According to the SIT, the kingpin of the racket is Vibhor Rana, who was granted a licence in 2016 during the tenure of the then Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav.

The investigation reveals that after strict action against madrasas near the Nepal border, traffickers panicked. Fearing arrest, Vibhor allegedly requested pharmaceutical company Abbott to take back nearly one crore bottles of cough syrup.

The report further states that the smuggled consignments were distributed through warehouses in Varanasi with the help of associates such as Shubham Jaiswal and Manoj Yadav. The SIT has also highlighted the involvement of the “Chhangur Baba” network, which was allegedly active in both religious conversion activities in border areas and cough syrup smuggling.

Investigators found that the smuggling routes extended across Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, while all financial transactions were conducted through illegal hawala channels. Following the submission of the report, political temperatures have risen in Uttar Pradesh, with serious questions being raised over licences issued during the previous government’s tenure and the alleged criminal nexus.

Meanwhile, in a major crackdown, police seized cough syrup worth approximately ₹50 lakh in Etah district. Acting on a tip-off around midnight on Sunday, the Agra Narcotics Team, led by Inspector Harvendra Mishra, along with local police under the supervision of CO Aliganj Nitish Garg, cordoned off a village and raided a tobacco warehouse.

During the raid, 47 cartons of cough syrup were recovered from the warehouse. Four people — Pramod Shakya, Jitendra Yadav, Jitendra Shakya, and Punjab Singh including a retired Army personnel, were arrested, while several others managed to flee.

Preliminary questioning revealed that the accused had been involved in cough syrup smuggling for a long time and supplied the contraband to drug dealers across nearby districts. The recovered bottles carried the name of the “Wing” company, but their batch numbers had been scratched off, raising suspicion that the syrup was meant for illegal narcotics use.

Police officials said the Etah connection emerged during an ongoing investigation into international drug syndicate kingpin Shubham Jaiswal, who is accused of supplying cough syrup and medicines illegally across borders. Further investigation is underway to identify and arrest other members of the extensive network.