LUCKNOW, Dec. 20 -- The Enforcement Directorate is investigating who arranged and paid nearly Rs 100 crore for the purchase of a huge consignment of cough syrup in the narcotics syrup case. The probe centres on main accused Shubham Jaiswal, who allegedly purchased the cough syrup from Delhi-based Abbott Pharmaceuticals, while the consignment was later returned by Saharanpur-based Vibhore Rana after it could not be sold in the market. ED officials are now verifying the source of funds used for the deal and whether the payment was made by Jaiswal himself or through intermediaries, while also examining the possible role of a mafia syndicate in arranging the funds. The agency is quietly scrutinising assets and bank accounts linked to the suspected mafia, including a high-end residential property estimated to be worth over Rs 50 crore.
More than 70 bank accounts linked to Jaiswal and his close relatives are under the scanner as the ED attempts to trace the money trail generated from the alleged smuggling of codeine-based cough syrup, with some accounts having been earlier frozen due to suspicious transactions. Officials have sought detailed statements from banks to track deposits and withdrawals. Investigators have also found that the drug licence and GST number of Shaili Traders, a firm run by Jaiswal's father Bhola Jaiswal, had mobile numbers registered in the name of the brother of a Samajwadi Party leader.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.