CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday provisionally attached immovable properties, worth around Rs 2.04 crore, of Sresan Pharmaceutical proprietor G Ranganathan in connection with the Madhya Pradesh killer cough syrup case, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached assets included two residential flats in Kodambakkam in Chennai owned by Ranganathan and his family members.The agency accused the firm of unfair trade policy for using industry-grade raw materials over pharma-grade materials to produce the cough syrup Coldrif, consumption of which led to the death of 22 children in Madhya Pradesh.ED’s money laundering probe stems from two FIRs registered by the Madhya Pradesh police and Chennai’s police anti-corruption branch. The second FIR named PU Karthigeyan, director (in-charge) and joint director of the Tamil Nadu drugs control department, for alleged corruption under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act. According to the ED, Sresan Pharmaceutical sourced industrial-grade raw materials in cash without invoices, deliberately avoiding quality checks and regulatory records to cut manufacturing costs. The ED also stated that Ranganathan and officials of the Tamil Nadu drugs control department were frequently in touch, yet the mandatory annual inspections under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules had not been carried out.Earlier, the ED carried out searches at 10 locations linked to the manufacturer, suspended drug control officials, and licence agents, and unearthed evidence relating to financial irregularities and adulterated production practices.It all started with children in Madhya Pradesh being reported to hospital with acute kidney failure in August and September, and inquiries revealed that they had taken Coldrif cough syrup in govt hospitals. The manufacturing unit, which was functioning in substandard conditions, was traced to Kancheepuram, and lab tests of Coldrif confirmed that it contained 48.6% of diethylene glycol (DEG), an industrial chemical used as a cheap alternative to glycerine.
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