Bhubaneswar: In Bhubaneswar, police have made a major bust by seizing a large number of cough syrup bottles in connection with an inter-state racket, and arresting two individuals. ACP Pradip Rout stated that, based on reliable inputs, a team from Bharatpur police station conducted a raid on Baramunda bus stand. During the raid, the team found an auto-rickshaw being loaded with cough syrup bottles and transporting them to a bus.
The police team seized 2,400 bottles of cough syrup sealed in cartons, along with some tablets from the auto-rickshaw, and arrested the two individuals involved in transporting them. The total value of the seized cough syrup was estimated to be around Rs 5 lakh. The arrested individuals were identified as Dilip Darda and Asish Kumar Sahu, both belonging to Nayagarh but living in a rented house in Mancheswar.
During questioning, the suspects revealed that the proprietor of MS Pharma Care in Mancheswar, Pravin Kumar Das, who also hails from Nayagarh, was responsible for procuring the cough syrup from outside the state. He would then supply the cough syrup along with the tablets, which were anthrax formulations, to different districts. The arrested persons were involved in transporting the cough syrup.
Further investigation revealed that the tablets of anthrax formulation were supplied to be mixed with the cough syrup. This would lead to high intoxication, which is believed to have been the main motive behind the racket. The police have registered a case, and investigations are currently ongoing.
