A 75-year-old owner of a pharmaceuticals company, wanted in connection with the deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan who consumed a contaminated cough syrup manufactured by his firm, was arrested early Thursday from his apartment in Kodambakkam, Chennai. The arrest of G Ranganathan comes days after multiple children in Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh, died after consuming a locally distributed brand of cough syrup, Coldrif. The case prompted a broader probe into the manufacture and sale of substandard medicines. A seven-member team from the Madhya Pradesh Police, led by Jitendra Jaat, Deputy Superintendent of Police, arrested Ranganathan from his residence within the Ashok Nagar police station limits in Kodambakkam. Officers said he was taken into custody around 12.30 am, and later transported to the Kancheepuram district, where his pharmaceutical company, Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, is located. Samples collected earlier had raised suspicions of toxic contamination. Authorities in several states, including Madhya Pradesh, have ordered the immediate stoppage of sales and distribution of the Coldrif Cough Syrup after it was allegedly found to contain a poisonous substance linked to the deaths of children. A test report from the Government Analyst at the Drug Testing Laboratory, Chennai, declared the cough syrup “Not of Standard Quality” following an analysis which found it contained 48.6 per cent by volume of Diethylene Glycol, a toxic industrial chemical. The sample was “found to be adulterated, since it contains Diethylene Glycol (48.6% w/v) which is [a] poisonous substance which may render the contents injurious to health,” said the report.
