Meghalaya Police bust major counterfeit cough syrup trafficking ring, three arrested in Khliehriat

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 1, 2023

Meghalaya Police seized a substantial quantity of illegal cough syrup, leading to the arrest of three persons in Dkhiah West, Khliehriat East Jaintia Hills on Saturday.

In an official press communique, Additional Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills District, Khliehriat, B. Jyrwa, MPS, stated that on September 30, 2023, credible information was received that a person named Altaf Hussain had recently received a shipment of illegal contraband and concealed it in his godown located in Dkhiah village, East Jaintia Hills. Accordingly, the staff of Khliehriat Police Station and a team from ANTF, East Jaintia Hills, were able to ascertain his whereabouts and apprehend him. He led the team to his godown, where 9883 bottles of Phensedyl were recovered.

Furthermore, based on information provided by the accused Altaf Hussain and with the assistance of ANTF West Jaintia Hills, the main suspect, Ratan Dkhar, was also apprehended. Ratan Dkhar confessed to running a clandestine production facility in the basement of his residence, where he manufactured spurious cough syrup and branded it as Phensedyl for illegal sale to Bangladesh.

He led the police team to his house, leading to the recovery of 600 bottles of Elcodyl cough syrup (each containing 100 ml), 10 bottles of flavoring agent (500 ml each), 11 bottles of food coloring (1 kg each), 10 kg of Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride (an ingredient of Phensedyl), 1 kg of Chlorpheniramine Maleate (another ingredient of Phensedyl), 7 books on Pharmacology and Drug preparations, 34 bottles of Phensedyl (100 ml each), 780 empty 100 ml bottles of Phensedyl, 46 cartons with Phensedyl already marked, 1 carton of bottle caps, 1 packet of Phensedyl labels, 1 bottling machine, 2 sophisticated machines for drug preparation and filtration and a cash amounting to Rs. 11,790/-.

Ratan Dkhar also disclosed that he had two accomplices from Assam. An accomplice of Altaf, Shahin, who assisted in transporting the cough syrup to Assam, has also been apprehended. The confiscated contraband and articles have been seized, sealed, and stored in accordance with procedures under the NDPS Act.

The arrested persons are Altaf Hussain (32 yrs), S/o- Fakar Uddin R/o Badarpur, Karimganj Assam, Ratan Dkhar (56 yrs), S/o B Sarkar Present Address- Ummulong village, West Jaintia Hills, Temporary Address – Dkhiah West, East Jaintia Hills and Shahin Rahman (32 yrs), S/o- Sajjadur Rahman, R/o- Lathimara village, Katigorah, Assam.

In connection with this case, Khliehriat PS Case No. 76(9)2023 u/s 22(c)/25/29 NDPS Act has been registered, and the investigation is ongoing to uncover both backward and forward linkages, as well as the arrest of other co-accused.