Cuttack: The special task force (STF) in collaboration with the drugs control department seized 26,658 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup from courier hubs in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The operation, conducted on Aug 1, led to the arrest of Ansuman Abhijit Sahoo, alias Raja, from Bharatpur in Bhubaneswar.
Acting on a tip-off, authorities raided a private firm in Badambadi, Cuttack, and another in Mancheswar, Bhubaneswar. They recovered 13,158 bottles from Cuttack and 13,500 from Bhubaneswar, each containing 100ml of cough syrup. “Total market value of the seized consignment is estimated at Rs 52.78 lakh,” said Dharmadev Puhan, assistant drugs controller, Cuttack.
Sahoo was apprehended while attempting to receive the consignment. Investigations revealed that he had forged documents of a pharmaceutical company in Cuttack to procure the cough syrup for unauthorised sale. A case has been registered under the NDPS Act, 1985, and Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Authorities are conducting further investigations to find out if more persons are involved in the operation.
The seized cough syrup was manufactured by a company in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. “We are intensifying surveillance across the state to curb the misuse of pharmaceutical narcotics. More coordinated actions will follow,” said DSP (STF), Pradeep Kumar Rout.
