New Delhi, Feb 17: 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. (Agencies)
