Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take cognizance of the ‘cough syrup mafia’ as he also requested the Centre to take strict action against the illegal cough syrup syndicate spread to several states and nations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, he said, “The Codeine-based cough syrup syndicate has spread its smuggling business not only to various districts of the state but also to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and beyond to Nepal, Bangladesh and South Africa. This banned narcotic syrup has claimed the lives of many innocent people.”
“The banned syrup trade flourished in Purvanchal with the patronage of senior officials in Varanasi, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Ghazipur, and Azamgarh,” the SP chief alleged. “The PM should also take cognizance of it and the Centre should take strict action against the cough syrup mafia,” he said.
“The investigation so far has revealed that Shubham, the kingpin of the Codeine trade, was in partnership with his relatives in one of the strongmen’s businesses and invested ₹84 crore. He also gifted them expensive vehicles. If the investigation is conducted by the CBI without any bias, many white-collar individuals will be left red-faced,” Akhilesh claimed.