Sambalpur: Police have seized a huge quantity of cough syrup and arrested 20 people in Sambalpur, Odisha. The estimated value of the seized cough syrup is Rs 15 lakh. The cough syrup was brought from Cuttack to Sambalpur to be sold to drug smugglers. There was an uproar after such a large quantity of cough syrup was recovered after 41 children died by drinking cough syrup in MP.
What does SP say:
Sambalpur SP Mukesh Bhamu said in a press conference that all these cough syrups were brought from Cuttack to a drug dealer in Sambalpur for sale. Police seized 5100 bottles of cough syrup. 20 accused were arrested. Along with this, a Swift Desire car, an unregistered Mahindra pickup vehicle, 5 mobile phones and cash of Rs 40,920 were seized.
How the police got the information:
According to the information given by the police department, at 2:30 pm on Monday, Radhakant Barik, an officer of the Baripali police station, got information about the racket from a reliable source. They received information that a large quantity of illegal cough syrup was being brought from Cuttack to Sambalpur in a pickup vehicle. COUGH SYRUP WAS TO BE TRADED IN MASINKANTA CHALK UNDER BARIPALI POLICE STATION.
Police raids:
A police team conducted a raid. The criminals named Lokesh Pradhan, Mahendra Kisan, Parvat Bhoi, Amood Karali, Manish Singh were arrested. Investigation revealed that Lokesh Pradhan had collected money from various drug vendors in Sambalpur city. This cough syrup was ordered from Cuttack. The police then took swift action and arrested 15 other people involved in the racket.
Drug dealers were being sold:
Sambalpur SP Mukesh Bhamu said, A case under the NDPS Act has been registered at Baraipalli police station in connection with this incident. Keeping in mind the time of the festivals, we were keeping an eye on the illegal cough syrup trade.
