Additional DCP, Crime, Anjali Vishwakarma, said that during the investigation, it emerged that the accused showed the purchase of 32,000 bottles of codeine syrup through a single bill, while the total quantity involved was 89,600 bottles. The medicines were sold without valid records, stock registers, or mandatory medical prescriptions. Investigators further found that billing and transaction-related computer and digital data was deliberately removed from the premises, clearly indicating a premeditated attempt to destroy evidence and obstruct the investigation. The probe also revealed that the firm routed supplies through several fake and suspicious firms, pointing towards a well-organised inter-state network rather than a local operation. In the course of verification, letters were sent to 47 firms, most of which were returned undelivered, confirming that these entities were fictitious and existed only on paper to camouflage the illegal supply of NDPS-category medicines. A case was registered at Collectorate Ganj police station and the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch of Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar. Using cyber tools, mobile location tracking, digital trail analysis, and network mapping, the Crime Branch kept continuous surveillance on the accused, said ADCP Vishwakarma. ADCP Anjali said, “We will soon take Vinod in police custody remand from the court and then explore and track his different links in the syrup syndicate.”
