Industrial materials used in cough syrup: ED

The manufacturer of Coldrif syrup, whose consumption is alleged to have killed at least 20 children in Madhya Pradesh, used industrial-grade raw materials instead of pharma-grade sans quality checks to prepare the medicine, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe has found.

The federal probe agency further claimed that officials of the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department were in “frequent touch” with proprietor G Ranganathan of the accused company, Chennai-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals — but the mandated annual inspections of the firm were “not” conducted.

The ED said this in a statement issued on Wednesday as it attached two flats in Chennai belonging to Ranganathan and his family members. The assets are located at Kodambakkam in Tamil Nadu’s capital city and are worth Rs 2.04 crore, the statement said.

The agency alleged Sresan Pharma indulged in “rampant unfair trade practices to suppress its manufacturing costs and increase profits, which are nothing but proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act”.

Probe found, that the manufacturer used industry-grade raw materials in the manufacturing of medicines instead of pharma-grade raw materials, without” proper quality checks. “Such materials were being purchased in cash without invoices to avoid the creation of records,” the ED said.

Though the officials of the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department were in frequent touch with the proprietor of Sresan Pharma, the annual inspections mandated as per the Drug and Cosmetic Rules were “not” conducted, it added.

The ED booked a money laundering case against the accused, taking cognisance of two FIRs, one filed by the Madhya Pradesh Police and the other by the Tamil Nadu Police. The Madhya Pradesh Police complaint alleged that Coldrif contained toxic glycol compounds and caused multiple incidents of acute renal failure in children, leading to the death of at least 20 children in the State.