Indian police have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the company whose cough syrup has been linked to the deaths of at least 17 children in Madhya Pradesh.
A senior police officer told Reuters on Thursday that the arrest followed a probe into the deaths of children — all under five years old — who had consumed the company’s cough medicine over the past month.
Preliminary tests revealed that the syrup contained dangerously high levels of diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical often used in industrial products such as antifreeze. Officials said the concentration was nearly 500 times the permissible limit, making the product lethally unsafe for consumption.
Health authorities in India have since suspended the company’s manufacturing licence and initiated a broader recall of its products. Samples have been sent for further testing to confirm contamination levels.
This is not the first time India has faced such a tragedy. In recent years, cough syrups made by Indian firms have been linked to child deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan, prompting global scrutiny of pharmaceutical manufacturing standards in the country.
Investigations are ongoing, and officials have indicated that more arrests could follow as authorities examine supply chains and quality control failures linked to the toxic batch. (Reuters)