UP Steps Up War On Codeine Cough Syrups Under Yogi Adityanath’s Zero Tolerance Policy
Sanjay Prasad said an SIT headed by an Inspector General of Police has been constituted, with officers from the FSDA included, to investigate cases linked to codeine-based cough syrups.
Acting on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a statewide campaign has been launched in Uttar Pradesh against prohibited cough syrups containing codeine. The drive is being jointly carried out by the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) Department and the Uttar Pradesh Police as part of the government’s zero-tolerance approach to public health and safety.
Principal Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad said strict action was being taken against prohibited medicines and that the Chief Minister had directed that all medicines must comply with prescribed standards.
SIT Formed, No Deaths Reported
Sanjay Prasad said an SIT headed by an Inspector General of Police has been constituted, with officers from the FSDA included, to investigate cases linked to codeine-based cough syrups. He clarified that no deaths have been reported in the state due to such syrups.
128 FIRs Across 28 Districts
Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna said 128 cases have been registered against medicine establishments and traders in 28 districts under the campaign. The drive was carried out over the past two months in coordination with the FSDA, district police and the UP STF.
Large quantities of illegal cough syrup were seized, and action has also been initiated against those spreading false or misleading information on social media. An FIR in this regard has been registered in Varanasi.
Inter-State Network Uncovered
Based on inputs from the Central Narcotics Bureau (Madhya Pradesh), drug inspectors carried out investigations into two manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, one depot in Haryana, and a super stockist in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Authorities collected documents related to the manufacture, storage, sales and distribution of codeine-based syrups. Illegal sales without prescription or licence were detected in several districts including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Ghaziabad. Some establishments were found to have sold 1–3 lakh bottles illegally. The network has been linked to Bangladesh and Nepal.
Extensive Inspections By Drug Department
FSDA Secretary Roshan Jacob said 279 establishments were inspected during the campaign. In several cases, the syrup was being sold as an intoxicant rather than as medicine. She said action against illegal stock, fake inventory and unauthorised sales will continue.
Investigations showed illegal sales were most prevalent in Varanasi, Ghaziabad and areas adjoining Varanasi district.
District-Wise Cases Under NDPS Act
A total of 128 FIRs were registered, including cases under the NDPS Act. These included:
- 38 cases in Varanasi
- 16 in Aligarh
- 08 in Kanpur
- 06 in Ghaziabad
- 04 in Maharajganj
- 04 in Lucknow
- 52 in other districts
Arrests By UP STF And Zonal Police
The UP STF arrested nine accused: Dharmendra Kumar Vishwakarma, Pawan Gupta, Shailendra Arya, Vibhor Rana, Vishal Singh, Bittu Kumar, Sachin Kumar, Amit Kumar Singh alias Amit Tata and Alok Pratap Singh.
In Lucknow Zone, 11 cases were registered and two accused, Rupam Rai and Diwakar Singh, were arrested.
In Bareilly Zone, four cases were registered and two accused, Abdul Qadir and Rehman Noori, were arrested.
In Gorakhpur Zone, 10 cases were registered and three accused, Neeraj Kumar Dixit, Ali Sareem Mekarani and Mohammad Aaftab, were arrested, while two accused, Kalpana and Mohammad Asad, were served notices.
In Varanasi Commissionerate, two cases were registered and four accused, Bhola Prasad Jaiswal, Vishal Jaiswal, Badal Arya and Azad Singh, were arrested.
Major Seizures In Recent Months
On 18 October, Sonbhadra Police seized 1,19,675 bottles of codeine syrup from two trucks and arrested three smugglers. On 1 November, 13,400 bottles were recovered in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
On 4 November, a joint operation by Sonbhadra and Ghaziabad police led to the seizure of 1,57,350 bottles. Eight accused, Saurabh Tyagi, Shadab, Shivkant alias Shiv, Santosh Bhadana, Ambuj Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Deepu Yadav and Sushil Yadav, were arrested.
The names of Shubham Jaiswal, Asif, Abhishek Sharma, Vishal Upadhyay and five other accused have also surfaced. A total of 17 accused have been named in the registered case.
State-Level SIT To Probe Financial Trail
In view of the scale of the operation, a state-level SIT is being constituted to conduct a detailed financial investigation. The SIT will regularly review ongoing probes, link information obtained from the accused, and examine financial transactions.
The press conference was held at Lok Bhavan, Lucknow, in the presence of Information Director Vishal Singh and other senior officials.
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