The Chhindwara police special investigation team (SIT) has detained the production manager and quality control in-charge of Sreesan Pharmaceuticals in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, in relation to the deaths of 23 infants from hazardous cough syrup

The manager K Maheshwari cleared the batch without quality testing. She was arrested after the director of Pharma company G Ranganathan took her name and said it was the duty of the production manager to check the quality of every batch,” said an investigating officer.

SIT reached Chennai on Monday with Ranganathan and has been probing for the past three days. However, the probe was hampered after the enforcement directorate (ED) raided his premises.

“The company was running in a very bad shape in a 2,000 sq ft area. There was no proper system from quality control to testing as per norms. The department We have also seized some documents including formulation to manufacture the cough syrup,” he added.

The choices are made in the midst of widespread indignation over the deaths of at least 22 Madhya Pradesh children in the past month, the most of whom lived in Parasia village in the Chhindwara district, from suspected renal failure brought on by ingesting tainted cough medication. Currently, hospitals in Nagpur, Maharashtra, are treating a few more children.

In the meantime, authorities in Chhindwara detained chemist Rajesh Soni and wholesaler Saurabh Jain for neglecting to notify them about the Coldrif syrup stock.

Under sections 276 (adulteration of drugs) and 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the police had filed a complaint against paediatrician Dr. Praveen Soni and syrup maker Sreesan Pharmaceuticals.

Five persons have been taken into custody thus far.

 

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