ED conducts multi-state raids in cough syrup drugs case; nabs 2 NCB accused
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has seized cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 crore and apprehended two accused wanted in a drugs case by the NCB during recent searches conducted in some northern states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The raids were undertaken on February 13 in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana in the case related to Raees Ahmed Bhat and others who allegedly indulged in "unauthorised sales and diversion of Codeine-Based Cough Syrup (CBCS) and associated illicit monetary gains."
The money laundering probe stems from a complaint filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) into a case of CBCS trafficking which is widely abused as an intoxicant by drug addicts.
Cocrex, a cough syrup brand, was procured "unauthorisedly" from its manufacturer Vidit Healthcare in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, whose managing partner is Neeraj Bhatia, a resident of Panipat in Haryana.
The syrup was "diverted" and sold via "shell" entities like S S Industries, Faridabad (owner Sumesh Sareen) and N K Pharmaceuticals, Kansal Pharmaceuticals, Kansal Industries and others "controlled by" Niket Kansal and his family members, residents of Delhi along with their "accomplice" Garv Bhambhari (lives in Faridabad), the ED alleged in a statement.
The agency claimed its probe found that between 2018-24, Kansal Industries, Kansal Pharmaceuticals, N K Pharmaceuticals, Nouveta Pharma and S S Industry were procuring the cough syrup from Vidit Healthcare and distributed them in an "unauthorised" manner.
"The licenses of many of such entities were cancelled by drug controlling authorities. Between 2019-25, around 55 lakh bottles of CBCS were procured by N K Pharmaceuticals and other such entities against payment of more than Rs 20 crore to Vidit Healthcare.
"The same were suspected to have been diverted in the open market, generating huge amounts of proceeds of crime, with major part as cash deposits and other related bank transactions, into such entities," the ED said.
The accused individuals and the companies could not be immediately contacted for their response to these charges made against them by the ED.
The agency said "unexplained" cash of Rs 40.62 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 1.61 crore and documentary and digital "evidence" were seized during the searches.
Two accused -- Garv Bhambhari and Mamta Kansal (mother of Niket Kansal) -- who are "absconding" in the NCB case were also traced and the information was shared with the anti-narcotics agency, it said.
These categories of cough syrups, including one with the brand name Phensedyl, are seized in huge numbers by the Border Security Force (BSF) and other agencies while they are being smuggled to Bangladesh from India.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
