37 held for 'role' in cough syrup racket

BALANGIR: Balangir police on Monday busted an interstate racket and arrested 37 people for their alleged involvement in the smuggling and trading of banned cough syrup. They also seized cough syrup worth Rs 40 lakh while the bank account of a Kolkata-based supplier, with Rs 2 crore in it, has been frozen.
One country made pistol, an SUV, three transport vehicles, two motorcycles, 17 mobile phones and Rs 7,500 in cash was also seized from the accused, among whom two are women. The banned cough syrup was used as intoxicant.
"The cough syrup network spread from Himachal Pradesh to Kolkata and from there to Cuttack and Balangir and on to adjacent districts. We are continuing with our operation to completely wipe out the illicit trade from the district," said Nitin Kusalkar, superintendent of police, Balangir.
District admn plan to raise awareness
Police and district administration will organise an awareness campaign to save the victims of drug addiction," the SP said.
A dedicated team was working round-the-clock to gather information and data before busting the syndicate. "We identified the key members of the syndicate, their roles, modus operandi, financial trails and various operational details," Kusalkar added.According to the police, the arrested gang members belong to Balangir, Bargarh and Cuttack districts while others are from Uttar Pradesh. They would usually smuggle the consignment in the early hours to evade the enforcement agencies.
Police sources said the racket was in operation for a long time. Cuttack based wholesellers would procure the banned cough syrup consignment from the supplier in West Bengal and distribute it in the districts. .