ED joins cough syrup case, raids places linked to Sresan, TN officials

Chennai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday launched coordinated searches at places linked to Sresan Pharmaceuticals, whose cough syrup allegedly led to the death of at least 21 children in Madhya Pradesh. They also searched places linked to officials from the Tamil Nadu drug control department.

ED registered a PMLA case to launch a money laundering probe into the incident, sources said. ED sleuths reached Sresan owner Ranganathan's house in Kodambakkam, while another team visited the manufacturing unit of Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Sunguvarchatram.

Another ED team carried out searches in the house of the former joint director of drugs control, food and drug administration, P U Karthikeyan, in Anna Nagar West. They also searched the house of the assistant director Deepa Joseph in Tiruvanmiyur. She and another senior drug inspector, K Karthikeyan, were suspended by the state govt for their failure to take action against the manufacturing unit. ED sleuths also carried out searches in Chromepet.