Two more arrests made in Madhya Pradesh Coldrif cough syrup deaths; four arrested so far

BHOPAL: Two more arrests have been made in the case related to the acute kidney failure deaths of at least 23 kids caused by Coldrif cough syrup poisoning in Chhindwara and adjoining districts of southern Madhya Pradesh. Rajesh Soni, the prime stockist of the concerned cough syrup in Parasia town of Chhindwara district and Saurabh Jain, the pharmacist in the medical store from which most parents purchased the cough syrup, have been arrested. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has climbed to four. Prior to the arrests of Soni and Jain, Dr Pravin Soni (the government doctor who prescribed the cough syrup to most kids at his private clinic) and Ranganathan Govindan, the owner of the Tamil Nadu-based cough syrup manufacturing unit, Sresan Pharma, were arrested in the case on October 4 and October 11. Among the two men arrested on Monday evening, Rajesh Soni is Dr Pravin Sonis close relative, while Saurabh Jain is the pharmacist of the Apna Medical Store, whose license was reportedly held in the name of the doctors wife. While confirming the two fresh arrests in the case, the Chhindwara district police superintendent Ajay Pandey told TNIE on Tuesday, Our team has taken the manufacturing units owner Ranganathan back to Tamil Nadu. The special investigation team (SIT) took him to the manufacturing unit and related premises on Tuesday and gathered fresh evidence in support of the case. According to a source privy to the ongoing SIT probe, more arrests are likely in the coming days from Tamil Nadu, particularly of the chemical analyst of the manufacturing unit. The chemical analyst is likely to be nabbed in the next few hours. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggest that the arrested doctor, Pravin Soni, got 10 per cent commission from the manufacturer unit on the sale of each cough syrup, which was priced at Rs 24.54 per bottle. The doctor had been prescribing the same cough syrup to kids since many years, a fact which has been narrated by him during police questioning at the time of his arrest. Importantly, the prime stockist of the syrup in Parasia town of Chhindwara district, too, is closely related to the arrested doctor. As per sources connected to the probe, Dr Soni, the leading paediatrician of Parasia town, continued to prescribe the now-banned Coldrif cough syrup even after central government guidelines had prohibited fixed-dose combination (FDC) medicines for children under four years of age. Though SP Ajay Pandey denied comment on the 10 per cent commission which Dr Soni received for every bottle he prescribed, a senior cop associated with the probe asked why any doctor would not just prescribe a particular cough syrup for years, but also be crucially connected with the stocking of the syrup in the town, without getting any commission. Dr Sonis lawyer, Pawan Shukla, however, rubbished the reports, saying, what is being called as confession by my client before the police is fabricated and legally worthless. The cops are just fabricating a story, as they dont have any direct and strong evidence against him.