Kanpur: Son of gang leader Vinod Agrawal of Pheelkhana, Shivam Agrawal, was arrested in connection with a codeine-laced cough syrup smuggling case, police commissioner Raghubir Lal said on Saturday. Shivam Agrawal carried a bounty of Rs 25,000 and police said he played key role in smuggling codeine-laced cough syrup across India and to neighbouring Bangladesh. Vinod Agrawal is lodged in Kanpur Jail.Lal said 11 individuals were wanted in eight cases and this was the sixth arrest. He said the gang supplied codeine-laced cough syrup in UP, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bangladesh.The police commissioner said Shivam Agrawal was on the run for the past five months and a lookout notice was issued against him. Police tracked his whereabouts in Delhi, Gurugram, Rajasthan and Prayagraj. To avoid arrest, he discarded his iPhone on the road two days ago. He had recently visited Khatu Shyam for pilgrimage.In the state, under a special campaign against the illegal use, storage and sale of codeine-laced cough syrup, police said action was taken by the Kanpur Nagar Commissionerate. Vinod Agrawal was registered under case number 87/2025 at Thana Collectorganj, Kanpur Nagar, under sections 132/318(4)/338/336(3)/340(2) of the IPC and additional sections 21(C)/26 of the NDPS Act. Police said Vinod Agrawal was lodged in Kanpur Jail following court orders.The case came to light based on a letter sent to Collectorganj police station by office of the drug inspector, FSD, Kanpur Nagar. On July 11-2025, joint team of drug inspectors, including drug inspectos Ajay Kumar Santoshi (Kanpur Dehat), Rekha Sachan (Kanpur Nagar), Parmesh Dwivedi (Kannauj) and Nitesh Sharma (Etawah) inspected Deshbandhu Agrawal Brothers, 59/26-27 Pheelkhana Road, Kanpur Nagar. During the inspection, in the presence of the firm’s proprietor Vinod Agrawal, a large quantity of medicines containing codeine, tramadol, tapentadol and alprazolam was found stored and being sold.Due to misuse of medicines which fall under NDPS category, the firm was instructed to provide complete details of the purchase and sale every 15 days. It was also instructed that details of the sale to firms purchasing these medicines be obtained and presented to the drug inspector.Investigators said it became clear from available records that Deshbandhu Agrawal Brothers sold an unusually large quantity of NDPS-category medicines to certain selected firms. For verification of the sales details presented by Vinod Agrawal, letters were sent to 47 firms, of which 21 were found to be non-existent or their addresses were incorrect, indicating that medicines were supplied through fake firms.On Mar 15, 2025, during re-inspection, it was found that Deshbandhu Agrawal Bros purchased 89,600 bottles of codeine-laced Eskuf Syrup (100 ml) from Deshbandhu corporate pharmaceuticals India ltd, Transport Nagar, Lucknow, through three separate invoices. The entire stock was sold the very next day to Deshbandhu A K Healthcare, Kanpur, Prayagraj, which officials said appeared suspicious.On orders of the commissioner, FSDA, UP, a re-inspection was conducted on Nov 11, 2025. Vinod Agrawal was not present and computers and laptops used for record-keeping were removed from the premises, preventing verification of sales records. Officials said this indicated an attempt to destroy evidence and obstruct govt work and a case was registered by the complainant, drug inspector Om Pal.Police said Shivam Agrawal revealed fake invoices were created in the name of Shriram medical agency for the illegal smuggling of codeine-laced cough syrup and other intoxicating drugs to various states and other districts of UP.Police said Shivam Agrawal’s firm, Max pharmaceuticals, was registered, through which 76,50,000 bottles of codeine-laced cough syrup worth Rs 42 crore was purchased from Wings Biotech Himachal Pradesh in last 14 months. The investigation continued to determine where these bottles were sent.
