LUCKNOW, Dec. 12 -- The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Thursday arrested two more accused in Lucknow, allegedly linked to an inter-state racket involved in diverting codeine-based cough syrup using shell firms. Officers said the duo handled documentation, online transactions and paperwork for bogus pharmaceutical outfits, including one created in the name of an accused.

The arrests add to the ongoing probe into a network that allegedly pushed prescription drugs to traffickers across several states before consignments were smuggled into Bangladesh.

Abhishek Sharma and Shubham Sharma, residents of Kapil Vihar in Saharanpur, were detained near Tedhi Pulia trisection on the Alambagh-Mawaiya Road in Lucknow early on Thursday. The ...