Prayagraj: A joint team of Maheshganj police, the SWAT unit and the surveillance cell on Wednesday arrested an accused carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 in connection with the alleged illegal storage and sale of codeine-based cough syrup.According to police, a drug sale licence had been issued to M/s Mahadev Pharma, owned by Ayush Pratap Singh, at Jhingurpur village in Maheshganj, on the basis of allegedly forged documents.The firm subsequently purchased large quantities of codeine-based ‘New Phensedyl’ cough syrup from different districts. However, departmental verification found that no medical store was operating at the registered address. The probe also found that the medicines had not been physically verified and that no sales records had been produced.Investigators alleged that the fraudulently obtained licence was used to facilitate the storage and sale of codeine-based medicines for non-medical purposes.A case was registered at Maheshganj police station on Dec 16, 2025, and Singh had since been absconding.Based on evidence gathered during the investigation, relevant provisions of the NDPS Act and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, were added to the case.
