Codeine case: SIT files second chargesheet against kingpin, aides

Varanasi: The Sonbhadra special investigation team probing codeine cough syrup smuggling cases filed a chargesheet on Tuesday against fugitive kingpin Shubham Jaiswal and his aides Satyam and Vijay.Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma said two cases have been lodged in the district in connection with the racket. In the first case, registered after a large consignment of codeine syrup was recovered, the SIT had filed four chargesheets totaling 4,124 pages against 13 accused, including Shubham, on April 23. The Special Judge, NDPS Act, has taken cognizance and begun hearings.In the second case, involving the supply of cough syrup from Ranchi to Sonbhadra and Bhadohi through a fake firm near Barkara Talab under Robertsganj police station, the SIT investigated for four months and filed a 5,334-page chargesheet.

The court summoned all three accused on July 5.According to the SIT, Nitesh alias Ravi Gupta, a resident of Bhadohi and close associate of Shubham, had obtained drug licenses in Jan 2024 for firms Maa Kripa and Shiviksha in Sonbhadra in the names of his maternal cousins Satyam and Vijay, residents of Prahlad Ghat, Varanasi.Using Barkara Talab, Robertsganj as the address, the two firms purchased cough syrup consignments worth Rs 6 crore on paper over 15 months. The stock was bought from Shaili Traders, a Ranchi-based firm run by Shubham and his jailed father Bhola Prasad Jaiswal.