TN govt shuts down Sresan Pharmaceutical, revokes licence over cough syrup Coldrif row

The facility, located off the Chennai-Bangalore Highway in Sunguvarchatram near Sriperumbudur, has long operated as a modest structure, its closed windows and dusty floors belying its role as a pharmaceutical unit. When The Indian Express visited the facility a week ago, the plant looked more like a petty shop than a medicine factory. Neighbours said women workers in green uniforms used to arrive each morning and leave at dusk. Blue Roquette Liquid Glucose barrels, half-burnt syrup bottles, and charred labels were still visible inside and behind the locked building, remnants of what officials called a hurried clean-up.

Following a letter from MP’s Food and Drug Administration controller, Tamil Nadu authorities launched a probe into the manufacturing of the cough syrup on October 1. Samples from Coldrif Syrup (Batch No. SR-13) were sent to the Government Drugs Testing Laboratory in Chennai. Within 24 hours, the report declared the syrup “Not of Standard Quality and Adulterated”. The state government subsequently banned the sale of the syrup across Tamil Nadu and alerted authorities in Odisha and Puducherry, where the same batch had been distributed. By October 3, a stop-production order was issued, the factory sealed, and a show-cause notice pasted on its walls demanding explanations from the owner, Dr G Ranganathan, and analytical chemist K Maheswari.

Ranganathan, 75, was later arrested in Chennai on October 9 by the MP SIT, assisted by Tamil Nadu police.

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