In a bid to curb the illegal sale of cough syrup in the district, Excise Department officials carried out a raid on a shop at Gopalpur on Tuesday and seized a huge cache of the drug.
Sources said around 150 bottles of syrup stored in a shop were seized and a person, identified as Lokesh Nayak (35) was taken into custody in this connection. Further investigation is underway into the incident.
Many youths are using the cough syrups of some banned companies as a substitute for liquor due to its sedative content and committing various crimes.
Taking advantage of it, some unscrupulous elements are illegally promoting it to make huge profits. Concerned over it, the police have launched a crackdown against it.