The Odisha Police on Monday busted a cough syrup smuggling racket in Bolangir under its Mission Cough Syrup drive. The gang was dealing with illegal Eskuf Syrup.

The police have arrested 38 people smuggling Eskuf Syrup. According to the reports, the Bolangir Town Police also seized 12,960 bottles of Eskuf Syrup worth Rs 35 lakhs, one country-made mouser, one Mahindra XUV, two pickup vans, one Tata Ace van, 2 bikes, Rs 7,500 in cash, 17 mobile phones, gold, and other incriminating articles.

Bolangir SP Nitin Kusalkar deployed a special team to Bolangir, Bargarh, and Cuttack districts as a part of Mission Cough Syrup.

First, 45 cartons of illegal cough syrup were seized near Sudapada overbridge from a four-wheeler while being smuggled to Bolangir. Around 40 boxes of illegal cough syrup were seized from a warehouse in Cuttack.

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The police arrested 35 criminals including Sana Negi and Prashant Kheti, two major players in the racket. The police said a notorious criminal and drugs smuggler Prashan Kheti was apprehended from the vehicle along with the seizure of a country-made mouser, 2 swords, Rs 7,500, etc. from him.

These drug traffickers sell illegal cough syrup to the local youth by smuggling it from Kolkata through Cuttack to several districts in Odisha. There is a huge amount of profit in this business mainly due to the fact that young people of the middle age are using this drug. A bottle of cough syrup is bought for only Rs 15 and is being sold for Rs 150 to Rs 200.

Bolangir Police said this was the largest racket of the cough syrup mafia to have been busted.

Last week, police seized 3,000 bottles of cough syrup from a truck in Assam’s Karimganj district along the Assam-Tripura border.

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Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Monday, triggered a row with his controversial comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, insinuating that the PM Modi-led BJP regime allegedly orchestrated the February 2019 suicide bombing to garner sympathy votes ahead of that year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a Congress dharna demanding a Parliamentary committee probe into the Hindenburg report, Randhawa asked how the Pulwama attack happened and did He (Modi) do this win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, indirectly insinuating that the BJP dispensation allegedly masterminded the brutal suicide bombing in which more than 40 CRPF men were slain.

Randhawa also demanded an inquiry into the February 14 2019 Pulwama terror attack, while also asking if any BJP leader fought for India’s independence even though the saffron party tout patriotism… “they say that there is no bigger patriot than them. Modi doesn’t know meaning of deshbhakti.”

The senior Congress leader also pointed guns at PM Modi during his address urging party leaders to end infighting and instead focus on “finishing Modi.” He told the gathering that if they (Congress) can “finish” Modi, then Hindustan (India) might “survive” … “if Modi is here, then Hindustan will be finished.”

He said that to remove Adani and Ambani, Modi must be “finished” first and then the BJP defeated.

Randhawa call for unity among Congress ranks in Rajasthan comes amid the backdrop of the ever-widening rift between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot ahead of the elections due later this year.

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The Congress veteran’s scathing remarks sparked a row as BJP top brass responded with fiery remarks of their own.

Hours later, Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia said that Randhawa has insulted the dignity of the post of Honorable Prime Minister also insulted martyrdom, adding that his comments have “humiliated” the entire country.

BJP’s Shehzad Poonawala also responded to Randhawa’s contentious remarks saying that once againg the Congress has “crossed all limits” and like “Raja Pateria incites people to finish Modi and gives clean chit to Pakistan on Pulwama.”

The BJP leader asked if the Congress will sack Randhawa or reward him for his comments.

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, BJP plans massive outreach to Muslims, Christians in bid to make inroads into Kerala: Reports

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The BJP is planning a massive outreach programme to woo Muslim and Christian voters in Kerala—who together make up 46 percent of the coastal state’s population—to make inroads into the traditional Congress and Left bastion in next year’s Lok Sabha elections, according to a report.

Quoting sources, an NDTV report said that the saffron party has planned a huge outreach programme which involves BJP workers visiting the home of Christians and Muslims—the two key non-Hindu communities in Kerala—on the occasion of their respective festivals.

The report said that 10,000 BJP workers will visit the homes of 1 lakh Christians on April 9 which marks Easter Sunday, continuing the trend from last December, when thousands of BJP workers visited the homes of Christians during Christmas week.

The saffron party workers will also visit the Muslim homes on Eid in mid-April and Christians will be invited to the homes of BJP workers on Vishu festival which falls on April 15.

Christians will be invited to the homes of right-wing activists on the festival of Vishu on April 15.

Kerala BJP has hailed the initiative as being highly popular was lauded by the people and claimed that its being monitored by the ruling Left and the Congress.

The report, quoting sources said that BJP is also planning a “Thank Modi” programme, which will involve testimonies from beneficiaries of various Central projects in the state. Over 12,000 people have already sent in “Thanks Modi” videos in Malayalam.

During BJP’s national executive meet in Hyderabad, Minister Narendra Modi, had asked the party cadre to organise a “sneha samvaad” (message of affection) to the minorities in Kerala prompting the right-wing party to step up its efforts after it failed to make much impact with its outreach campaign in Kerala ahead of the 2019 polls.

The BJP which rules at the Centre, returned a naught in the 2019 election despite leading a vociferous protest on the Sabarimala issue. In 2019, the Congress bagged 15 out of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats while its allies won four.

The election outcome was viewed as Keralites rejecting BJP’s hardline Hindutva stance and its growth has been stunted in the state since, not less in part due to frequent communal clashes between the party’s hardcore right-wing supporters and Left wing sympathizers.

However, after being bolstered by completing a trifecta of wins in three northeastern states, the BJP is looking make inroads into a traditionally anti-right stronghold with high hopes of even forming a coalition government in the states where Assembly polls are due in 2026.