In what investigators describe as a chilling example of profit trumping human life, Uttar Pradesh Police have uncovered a sprawling, multi-crore racket in which prescription-only codeine-based cough syrup was allegedly diverted, smuggled, and sold as an intoxicant—fueling addiction while enriching a select few.
Now, after years of quiet expansion, the heavy hand of the law appears to be tightening around the masterminds of the operation.
During its ongoing probe, the Varanasi Police revealed that properties worth nearly ₹40 crore in the city are allegedly linked to prime accused Shubham Jaiswal (33) and his close associates.
Acting on intelligence inputs, police issued a lookout circular (LOC) and announced a ₹50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Investigators believe Jaiswal has fled India and is hiding in Dubai.
Varanasi Police Commissioner Mohit Agarwal confirmed that LOCs have been issued against three other accused as well.
Authorities have launched a multi-agency verification drive to scrutinise land records, building approvals, and transaction histories of the identified properties, suspecting they were acquired using proceeds of crime.
Officials stressed that coercive action would follow only after ownership and documentary evidence are firmly established.
Sources said details of these properties have been shared with the registry office and tehsil administration, while the Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) has been tasked with checking whether constructions conform to approved maps and permissions.
The value of assets under scrutiny may rise further as the investigation deepens.
So far, 78 people have been arrested across Uttar Pradesh, and action has been initiated against 134 firms allegedly involved in the racket.
The scale of the operation has also echoed inside the UP Assembly, where the BJP and the Samajwadi Party have traded sharp accusations during the winter session.
Recognising the breadth of the network—spanning multiple districts and even crossing international borders—the state government constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by an Inspector General–rank officer.
The SIT is probing illegal storage, sale, and trafficking of codeine-based cough syrup and other narcotic medicines, along with associated financial crimes, including money laundering, diversion of consignments, and inter-state syndicates.
Extradition proceedings are also on the table for accused who have fled abroad.
Investigators trace the roots of the alleged empire to 2018, when Shubham Jaiswal joined his family’s pharmaceutical business in Varanasi.
A graduate of Banaras Hindu University, he spent years learning the trade before expanding operations beyond Uttar Pradesh.
In 2023, he floated a firm—Saili Traders—in Ranchi in his father’s name, which police allege became a front for large-scale illegal trading.
According to officials, cough syrup stock worth nearly ₹100 crore was procured and then clandestinely routed to Bangladesh and Nepal, while fake sales were recorded within UP and other states using forged invoices and a web of shell companies.
The syrup—meant strictly for medical use—was allegedly transformed into a narcotic commodity, with little regard for the lives it could destroy.
Believed to have fled to Dubai with his wife, Shubham has approached the Allahabad High Court, seeking the quashing of the FIR against him.
The court is scheduled to hear the matter this week. Meanwhile, a viral video purportedly featuring Shubham shows him claiming false implication and appealing to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for a fair and impartial probe, denying links with other accused or political figures.
His father, Bhola Prasad Jaiswal, was arrested in Kolkata on November 30 while allegedly attempting to flee the country. Police say he claimed to be merely a signing authority, asserting that all Jharkhand operations were handled by his son.
The investigation widened further after the arrest of alleged “super distributor” Vibhor Rana of Saharanpur, whose network allegedly supplied syrup routed through West Bengal and onward to Bangladesh.
This trail eventually led police to Shubham Jaiswal, who allegedly adopted Rana’s model and scaled it up by positioning Ranchi as a strategic hub—allowing consignments to move directly from manufacturing units to Jharkhand and then across borders.
Key arrests—including that of dismissed constable Alok Singh and Amit Singh alias Amit Tata—shed light on the modus operandi: fake firms, forged e-bills, diverted stock, and huge profits shared among the syndicate.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now entered the scene, conducting searches at Shubham’s residences and business premises in Varanasi and Jharkhand.
Officials say documents linked to shell firms, luxury vehicle purchases, and suspected money laundering have been seized.
Shubham has been summoned, and the agency is examining whether high-end vehicles were gifted to associates to mask the origin of illicit funds.
As of now, UP Police have arrested more than 30 people, raided 332 firms across 52 districts, and lodged FIRs against 133 firms in 31 districts.
What began as a trail of cough syrup bottles has exposed a disturbing nexus of greed, deception, and cross-border crime.
For years, prescription drugs were allegedly weaponised for wealth, with little concern for the addiction and devastation left behind.
Today, as investigators close in and agencies coordinate their efforts, the message is unmistakable: the grip of the law is tightening.
The public, meanwhile, watches closely—waiting to see whether justice will finally catch up with those who sought to become filthy rich at the cost of millions of lives.
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