NEW DELHI: Congress social media chairperson Supriya Shrinate and national media panellist Sadhn Bharti on Wednesday exposed a Codeine cough syrup scam flourishing in Uttar Pradesh that is easily available at Rs 40-45 a bottle as a cheap source of intoxication.
They told a Press conference here that thousands of youths in U.P., Bihar, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bangladesh and Nepal are consuming this cough syrup produced in Uttar Pradesh, making children sick as it damages liver and kidney. They wanted a judicial inquiry into the scam.
Its king pin is one Shubham Jaiswal of Varanasi who has earned Rs 500 crore in the last five years. The Congress leaders said his associates in the racket are Dhananjay Singh and Amit Singh, a dismissed police constable. Dhananjay is the general secretary of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who has blessings of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and leaders in Delhi.
The Congress duo also showed photos of other gangsters who have links with Brajesh Pathak, deputy chief minister of UP holding health portfolio and BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.
They claimed the main culprit Shubhan Jaiswal was made to flee from India and UP Police has now announced reward of Rs 50,000 for his arrest. They claimed the cough syrup has caused deaths of 25 children in Madhya Pradesh and 9 children in Rajasthan, but the UP government has not taken any action on the producers of this cough syrup in its state.
