Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the cough syrup tragedy that claimed 24 children’s lives in Madhya Pradesh has arrested the wife of accused Dr Praveen Soni, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

Dr Soni, a Chhindwara-based practitioner, was arrested last month for alleged medical negligence after prescribing the contaminated cough syrup Coldrif to several children who later died due to kidney failure.

His wife Jyoti Soni, who is also named in the case, was taken into custody from her residence in Parasia town on Monday night, according to Sub-Divisional Police Officer and SIT in-charge Jitendra Jaat. “She is the proprietor of a medical store from where the tainted syrup was sold to several victims,” the official stated.

With this, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to seven.

Following the tragic deaths, the Tamil Nadu government revoked the licence of the manufacturer, Sresan Pharma. Those arrested include G Ranganathan (owner of Sresan Pharma), Satish Verma (medical representative), K Maheshwari (chemist), Rajesh Soni (wholesaler) and Sourabh Jain (pharmacist).

At least 24 children, mostly under the age of five, died in Madhya Pradesh after reportedly being administered the contaminated syrup. Three more deaths were reported from neighbouring Rajasthan.

The incident led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue a global alert against three substandard oral cough syrups manufactured in India — Coldrif, Respifresh TR and ReLife.

Subsequent investigations by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Drugs Control found Coldrif samples to be “not of standard quality”. The Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later reported that one sample contained 48.6% diethylene glycol, a deadly toxin, compared to the permissible limit of just 0.1%.

In response, multiple states, including Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, West Bengal and Delhi, banned the sale of Coldrif syrup.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav assured strict action, stating that “the guilty shall not be spared”. The state government has also suspended the Drug Controller and Assistant Drug Controller for failing to test random samples and formed an SIT to conduct a detailed probe.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has sealed Sresan Pharma’s manufacturing unit following the revelations.
PTI