ED raids in 3 states in1Kcr syrup racket

Lucknow: The ED Lucknow Zone on Friday launched a major crackdown across three states—UP, Jharkhand, and Gujarat—nine days after registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against 67 accused in the state's largest codeine-based cough syrup diversion and trafficking racket worth over Rs 1,000 crore.Acting on the ECIR, ED teams, accompanied by central paramilitary forces, carried out coordinated searches at 25 locations. The raids spanned factories, warehouses and residences linked to arrested accused and their associates. In UP, premises in Jaunpur, Aligarh, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi and Ghaziabad were searched, while parallel operations were executed in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat)—regions identified as hubs for the illegal manufacturing, bottling, and diversion of codeine-based syrups.Officials said the money-laundering probe marks the beginning of a full-fledged financial investigation into the racket, which allegedly generated crores through illegal sales, forged stock entries, fake billing, and benami distribution chains. The ECIR, ED's internal equivalent of an FIR, empowers the agency to summon suspects, freeze bank accounts, seize digital evidence, and attach properties acquired through illicit proceeds.The raids began from the premises of terminated and arrested cop Alok Pratap Singh at his Ahimamau residence in Lucknow. Thereafter, warehouses of Idhika Lifesciences in the Transport Nagar area of the capital were also raided. Simultaneously, ED teams in the security of paramilitary carried out raids at the residence of Amar Pandey, located opposite the CMO office, who is linked to Kedar Pharma—one of the firms under investigation in Jaunpur. In November, FSDA and police seized massive consignments of the restricted cough syrup from several medical agencies in Jaunpur.ED teams raided multiple premises belonging to the racket kingpin Shubham Jaiswal in Varanasi. Searches were conducted at his ancestral home in Kayasth Tola under Adampur police station and his newly built residence in Badshah Bagh colony, Sigra. Teams also visited the home of Divesh Jaiswal, a resident of Khojwa and another crucial link in the syndicate. His two-storey house, with a general store operating on the ground floor, was thoroughly searched.Separate ED teams simultaneously inspected several fake firms named in an FIR lodged at Kotwali police station. Officials carried out physical verification of the establishments and questioned individuals present on the premises.A significant breakthrough came when the ED reached the office of Shubham's CA Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, believed to handle financial transactions for the illegal codeine trade. His office was sealed, and over six ED officials continued examining documents late into the day. CA Agarwal has been absconding since the investigation intensified. The ED believes that Agarwal played a central role in managing and laundering the proceeds of the illicit cough syrup trade. The news of the raids triggered panic among several medical shop owners and distributors across the city.Meanwhile, searches also continued in Ahmedabad and other linked locations as the financial probe widened. In Ahmedabad, the agency raided Manohar Prasad Jaiswal, owner of Arpik Pharmaceuticals, and Archana Jaiswal, co-owner, both warehouse and residences. The ED team reached Saharanpur on Friday as part of its investigation into the codeine syrup trafficking racket. Officials searched the premises linked to Vishal and Vibhor Rana, examining documents and financial records. The investigating officers are still on site, and scrutiny of seized materials is underway.In Jharkhand, the probe has expanded to Shaili Traders, a commercial firm based in Ranchi. The ED also carried out searches at the Tupudana warehouse and residence of Ranchi-based businessman Shubham Jaiswal, who is under the scanner for his alleged role in the illegal codeine syrup supply chain. The ED is expected to intensify its investigation in the coming days as more financial links, benami accounts, and interstate supply chains come under scrutiny.Sources said the ECIR is based on 24 FIRs registered over the past year by UP Police, STF, and FSDA across districts including Lucknow, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur, Kanpur Nagar, Jaunpur, Bahraich, Bhadohi, and Ghazipur. These cases involve large-scale seizures of illegal or mislabelled codeine syrups, fake GST invoices, manipulated stock registers, unregistered transporters, and suspected covert manufacturing units.The alleged kingpin, Shubham Jaiswal, was issued a notice to appear before ED in Lucknow on December 8. But he did not appear, following which raids took place at his premises too. More summonses are expected as the financial probe widens. "This case involves diversion of pharmaceutical stock, illegal manufacturing, smuggling routes, and laundering of profits. The financial network is as critical as the criminal one," an officer said.

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