SIT Arrests Wife of Accused Dr Praveen Soni

Chhindwara-based Dr., who allegedly prescribed contaminated cough syrup c’ to most of the sick children. Soni was arrested last month for alleged negligence linked to child deaths due to kidney failure.

His wife Jyoti Soni, another accused in the case, was arrested from her house in Parasia town of Chhindwara district on Monday night, Jitendra Jaat, in-charge of Police Sub-Divisional Office and Special Investigation Team (SIT), said.

The official said he was the owner of a medical shop where cough syrup was sold to many victims. He added that seven people have been arrested so far in connection with the cough syrup tragedy. Following the child deaths, the Tamil Nadu government canceled the license of cough syrup manufacturing company Sresan Pharma.

Those arrested include Sresan Pharma owner G Ranganathan, medical representative Satish Verma, chemist K Maheshwari, wholesaler Rajesh Soni and medical store pharmacist Sourabh Jain.

24 children with MP, most under the age of 5, died due to suspected kidney failure after being given Coldrif cough syrup.

At least three children have died after drinking cough syrup in neighboring Rajasthan. The tragedy prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue a warning against three “substandard” oral cough syrups identified in India – Coldrif, Respifresh TR and ReLife.

On October 2, the Tamil Nadu drug control director found that the Coldrif samples were not of standard quality. Three days later, Madhya Pradesh also reported that a sample of Coldrif contained 48.6 percent diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical, far exceeding the 0.1 percent limit allowed as an impurity.

The MP police later arrested medical doctor Dr. for alleged negligence. Praveen arrests Soni. Following the deaths, the syrup was banned in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, West Bengal and Delhi.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the culprits in the case will not be spared. The state government also suspended the drug controller and deputy drug controller for negligence in testing random samples of the drug and set up the SIT to investigate the matter. The Tamil Nadu government sealed the manufacturing unit of Sresan Pharma after the deaths of the children came to light.