NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday launched coordinated searches in places linked to Sresan Pharmaceuticals, whose cough syrup is said to be the cause behind the deaths of about 20 children in Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu drug control department's officers.
While Madhya Pradesh police recently arrested Sresan's owner, Ranganathan, ED sleuths reached his house in Kodambakkam as part of the search operation.
Another team visited the lab of Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Sunguvarchatram, where the cough syrup Coldrif was manufactured in an unsterilised environment with substandard ingredients.
Another ED team carried out searches in the house of the former joint director of drugs control, food and drug administration, PU Karthieyan, in Anna Nagar West.
It may be noted that he was arrested by DVAC in July this year when he accepted Rs 25,000 as a bribe. The assistant director of the department, Deepa Joseph's house in Tiruvanmiyur, is also being searched by ED.
She and another senior drug inspector, K Karthikeyan, were suspended by the state govt for their failure in inspecting the syrup manufacturing unit.
The crackdown follows the recent arrest of the firm’s owner, G Ranganathan, in Chennai.
On October 10, a Parasia court remanded Ranganathan in 10-day police custody.
As part of the investigation, the Madhya Pradesh SIT probing the tragedy took the 75-year-old owner to the company’s factory in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, for an on-site inspection on Sunday.
The factory, already sealed by Tamil Nadu’s drug control department, is now subject to a joint forensic and regulatory probe.
Investigators are trying to determine how the banned industrial-grade chemical diethylene glycol (DEG) entered the syrup — whether through intentional adulteration, manufacturing errors, or lapses in quality control.
While Madhya Pradesh police recently arrested Sresan's owner, Ranganathan, ED sleuths reached his house in Kodambakkam as part of the search operation.
Another team visited the lab of Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Sunguvarchatram, where the cough syrup Coldrif was manufactured in an unsterilised environment with substandard ingredients.
Another ED team carried out searches in the house of the former joint director of drugs control, food and drug administration, PU Karthieyan, in Anna Nagar West.
It may be noted that he was arrested by DVAC in July this year when he accepted Rs 25,000 as a bribe. The assistant director of the department, Deepa Joseph's house in Tiruvanmiyur, is also being searched by ED.
She and another senior drug inspector, K Karthikeyan, were suspended by the state govt for their failure in inspecting the syrup manufacturing unit.
The crackdown follows the recent arrest of the firm’s owner, G Ranganathan, in Chennai.
On October 10, a Parasia court remanded Ranganathan in 10-day police custody.
As part of the investigation, the Madhya Pradesh SIT probing the tragedy took the 75-year-old owner to the company’s factory in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, for an on-site inspection on Sunday.
The factory, already sealed by Tamil Nadu’s drug control department, is now subject to a joint forensic and regulatory probe.
Investigators are trying to determine how the banned industrial-grade chemical diethylene glycol (DEG) entered the syrup — whether through intentional adulteration, manufacturing errors, or lapses in quality control.
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