Cough syrup case: ED raid reveals lavish luxury mansion of ex-UP cop

Enforcement Directorate officials were stunned when they raided the ultra luxurious, sprawling Lucknow residence of a dismissed police constable arrested in the codeine-laced cough syrup case. The house had ornate European-style interiors, spiral staircases, vintage lighting and a trove of luxury items.

The house belongs to constable Alok Pratap Singh, who was arrested by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police on December 2. Dismissed from service on two occasions, he is currently lodged in Lucknow jail.

His name emerged during the interrogation of another accused, Amit Kumar Singh alias Amit Tata, in the ongoing probe into an illegal codeine-laced cough syrup racket.

Luxury mansion

The two-storey mansion sprawls over nearly 7,000 square feet in Ahmamau near the Lucknow-Sultanpur highway. Towering pillars line the facade, ornate railings adorn the wide balconies, and inside, cream-painted walls with decorative accents set off the high-end fittings.

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Luxury items seized during the ED raid on Friday (December 12), including handbags from Prada and Gucci, premium Rado watches, and several electronic devices, officials said.

A senior police officer privy to the investigation told the news agency PTI on Saturday, “Preliminary assessments suggest that Rs 1.5-2 crore was spent solely on interiors, while the construction of the house alone may have cost around Rs 5 crore, excluding the land. A government-approved valuer has been appointed to determine the full investment and any illicit funds involved.”

Cough syrup case

Police allege that Singh is part of a network running wholesale cough syrup units in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and mentored young men from Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, and Varanasi, while leveraging connections in police and political circles.

Originally from Chandauli, Singh's career in the police force was turbulent. After he was first arrested in 2006 in a case involving 4 kg of looted gold, Singh was dismissed from service but was reinstated after his acquittal.

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Fresh allegations led to his second dismissal in 2019, after which he reportedly turned to business ventures, cultivating connections that allegedly facilitated his role in the syrup network.

The case formed part of a wider probe into a syndicate dealing in codeine-laced medicines, which are legally sold only on prescription.

SIT investigation

The prime accused, Shubham Jaiswal, is believed to have fled to Dubai, while his father, Bhola Jaiswal, has been taken into custody. The Uttar Pradesh government set up an SIT to probe the illegal storage and distribution of codeine-based cough syrups across the state.

The SIT, headed by an IG-rank officer and including Food and Drug Safety Authority (FDSA) officials, tasked with examining financial transactions, tracing the diversion of medicines, and connecting all leads emerging from the accused persons, said Sanjay Prasad, Principal Secretary (Home).

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DGP Rajeev Krishna said earlier that the investigation had so far exposed a network of major "super-stockists" allegedly involved in diverting highly-regulated codeine-laced medicines.

Three of the five key ‘super-stockists' – Bhola Jaiswal from Varanasi, Vibhor Rana from Saharanpur, and Saurabh Tyagi from Ghaziabad – have been arrested, and action is underway against two other accused.

Network behind racket

So far, around 3.5 lakh bottles of cough syrup, valued at approximately Rs 4.5 crore, have been seized, and 32 people associated with the illegal trade have been taken into custody. The government clarified that no casualties due to codeine-laced syrups have been reported in the state.

The probe also revealed evidence of consignments being trafficked across the India-Nepal and India-Bangladesh borders. Authorities are also verifying financial transactions and money trails linked to the network, with the ED involved in parallel investigations.

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FDSA Commissioner Roshan Jacob earlier said that while the syrups fall under Schedule H and are legal if sold on prescription, violations occur when large quantities are supplied without documentation, often facilitating their abuse as intoxicants. FIRs have been lodged against 128 establishments across 28 districts under relevant sections of the BNS and the NDPS Act.