Cough syrup deaths: Tamil Nadu-based pharma firm owner arrested

Ranganathan, owner of Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharma, was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police with Chennai assistance in connection with adulterated Coldrif cough syrup linked to multiple child deaths. Authorities seized documents and are investigating hygiene and labelling lapses at his factory

Chennai: Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharma owner has been arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police with the help of Chennai Police in the early hours of Thursday, in connection with the adulterated cough syrup case, a police official said.

Teams from the Madhya Pradesh Police and Chennai cops launched a hunt to trace and nab the pharma owner Ranganathan.

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Coldrif cough syrup manufactured by his company is attributed to the deaths of children in multiple States.

A senior police official said he was detained following a midnight operation and taken to Sunguvarchatram police station for inquiry.

According to the police official, the police teams had been searching for G Ranganathan since October 7 after the Madhya Pradesh police team arrived, and he was finally arrested at 1.30 am on Thursday. The police also seized some documents from his Kancheepuram factory.

After being produced in the court here for obtaining the transit remand, he would be taken to Chhindwara, he said.

On October 7, the Sriperumbudur Drug Control Inspector had issued a show-cause notice to the pharma company asking it to explain the discrepancies in the quality and labelling of the medicine. Officials from the TN Directorate of Drugs Control inspected the manufacturing facility and found that the medicines were allegedly stored in “unhygienic conditions” on the corridors, and they noticed certain risk of contamination, he said.

The Tamil Nadu government had sealed the factory after 20 children from Madhya Pradesh died after consuming the “contaminated” cough syrup allegedly made in the unit. The government banned the cough syrup ‘Coldrif’ in the state from October 1 and ordered the removal of stocks of the medicine from the market.