Codeine syrup nexus: Allahabad HC dismisses pleas of two accused

An FIR was lodged at Kotwali police station in Jaunpur against Sintu alias Akhilesh Prakash and Akash Maurya

In the matter of adulterated cough syrup having Codeine substance, the Allahabad high court on Monday dismissed two writ petitions filed by Sintu alias Akhilesh Prakash and Akash Maurya against whom an FIR was lodged at Kotwali police station in Jaunpur district.

The court dismissed the petitions, saying that the act of petitioners is a crime against society and grave in nature. (For Representation)

The order was passed by Justice Ajay Bhanot and Justice Garima Prasad dismissing the writ petition. The petitioners had moved the court challenging the FIR lodged against them and also for stay on arrest in the matter.

The court dismissed the petitions, saying that the act of petitioners is a crime against society and grave in nature. On Friday (December 12), another bench of the court, while granting interim protection to an accused in the similar matter for which FIR had been lodged at Varanasi, had fixed December 17 for hearing in the case.

The accused are of alleged illegal Codeine-based cough syrup trafficking racket in Uttar Pradesh. The narcotics network was allegedly built on fake companies and forged documents. The allegations in FIR are that the accused engineered a high-volume supply chain, moving Codeine-laced cough syrup from stock points in Ghaziabad and Varanasi to Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Multiple shell firms were reportedly used to disguise illegal consignments as legitimate pharmaceutical shipments. During a raid in Sonbhadra on October 18, police recovered around 12,000 bottles of Codeine syrup hidden inside snack cartons.