- By Shubham Bajpai
- Sun, 28 Dec 2025 06:26 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Varanasi police have made a major breakthrough by uncovering a fraudulent transaction worth Rs 23 crore and arresting five people related to the smuggling of codeine cough syrups. The action was taken against three individuals at the Rohaniya police station in the Varuna Zone and two individuals at Sarnath. The fraudulent payments and illegal transactions were being conducted through several shell companies.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Swapnil Keshari, Dinesh Yadav and Ashish Yadav in Rohaniya arrest, and Vishnu Pandey and Lokesh Agarwal in Sarnath arrest.
Their primary function was to establish illegal shell companies and obtain GST numbers and drug licenses. The companies did not conduct any purchases or sales and only existed on paper to generate false GST bills and invoices.
Police said these companies operated under names like Al Uqba, SB Pharma, Singh Medicos, and PD Pharma of Sarnath.
The final transactions of all this money were made through the firms of Pratik Gujarati and Lokesh Jaiswal of Sarnath, into their accounts.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Rs 13 crore in cash was deposited with PD Pharma. The Sarnath company had approximately Rs 6 to Rs 7 crore in cash and Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore in RTGS transactions. However, all of these companies are merely shell companies and do not own any physical assets. Their offices consist of a single room with tables and chairs.
Police said these companies were involved in the illegal smuggling of cough syrup and had links to Bihar, West Bengal, and Bangladesh. The price of cough syrup there is 10 times higher. The proceeds were received in Varanasi in the form of gold or cash through hawala.
After tracing this smuggling network, police arrested five people. Police are continuing their investigation and searching for other potential suspects.
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Reacting to the development, ADCP, Varuna Zone, Neetu said, "Sarnath and Ramnagar police have arrested Vishnukant Pandey, a resident of Sarnath, and Lokesh Agarwal, a resident of Varanasi, in connection with the cough syrup smuggling case. Three other individuals, Swapnil Keshari, Ashish Yadav, and Dinesh Yadav, also from Varanasi, have been arrested. The five arrested accused revealed that they worked for Shubham Agarwal, the mastermind of the cough syrup smuggling."