₹20K bounty for owner of Sresan Pharma: MP govt

On Wednesday, the MP police teams reached the company’s factory at Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram and detained an employee.

Updated on: Oct 9, 2025, 08:29:52 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Divya Chandrababu

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The Madhya Pradesh government announced a reward of ₹20,000 for the arrest of Raja Ranganathan, owner of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, whose cough syrup, Coldrif, is allegedly responsible for the death of 20 children in the state.

The Tamil Nadu government has sealed the factory. (REUTERS)

On Wednesday, the MP police teams reached the company’s factory at Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram and detained an employee; this came a day after the Tamil Nadu government sealed the factory.

MP deputy CM and health minister Rajendra Shukla said: “The owner Raja Ranganathan will be arrested soon by the Special Investigation Team. He is hiding in Chennai.”

Chhindwara superintendent of police Ajay Pandey said, “Documents have been seized from the sealed premises of the company and also from its officials. The employees are being interrogated.”

Another officer who asked not to be named said that an employee had been detained at the factory and was being questioned.

Sresan’s proprietor Raja Ranganathan could not be reached for comment as his phone was switched off.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Divya Chandrababu
Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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