Chennai: In one of the darkest chapters of India’s pharmaceutical history, the owner of the Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals, Ranganathan Govindan, has been arrested following the deaths of at least 20 children linked to the company’s Coldrif cough syrup, which was found to contain deadly levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) a highly toxic chemical used in industrial products like brake fluid, glue, and printing ink. The arrest, carried out in a high-security midnight operation, exposes a chilling story of negligence, greed, and regulatory failure in the very industry meant to safeguard lives.
Ranganathan, who had been absconding since the syrup scandal erupted, was arrested from Chennai late last night by a team of Madhya Pradesh police, aided by local law enforcement. The arrest came after weeks of intensive surveillance, vehicle tracking, and tip-offs. Police sources revealed that Ranganathan had been moving between Chennai and Kancheepuram in a bid to evade arrest.
The operation was carried out around 1:30 a.m., when the fugitive was cornered near his residence. Investigators later took him to his Kancheepuram factory, where critical documents, chemical samples, and storage logs were seized. A reward of ₹20,000 had been announced for his capture just a day earlier. Madhya Pradesh police are now seeking transit remand to bring him to Chhindwara, the epicentre of the tragedy, where most of the deaths occurred.
The Coldrif cough syrup widely prescribed for children suffering from cold, cough, and sore throat turned into a lethal poison when consumed. The children, mostly from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh, suffered acute kidney failure and severe organ damage after ingesting the syrup. Some deaths were also reported from Rajasthan, prompting panic among parents and swift state-level crackdowns.
The symptoms were tragically similar vomiting, seizures, and eventual kidney shutdown. Parents, unaware that the syrup was contaminated, had administered it as per medical prescriptions. For many families, the medicine that was supposed to heal their children became the cause of their deaths.
Investigations by the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Authority revealed that samples of Coldrif syrup contained 46–48% diethylene glycol, a shocking violation of the permissible limit of 0.1%. DEG is a toxic solvent that can cause irreversible kidney, liver, and nervous system damage. Ingesting even small amounts can prove fatal, particularly in children.
Authorities found unbilled containers of DEG hidden inside the Sresan Pharmaceuticals factory in Kancheepuram. It is suspected that substandard raw materials were procured to cut production costs. Following the discovery, the state drug authority ordered the immediate suspension of production, froze all the company’s stocks, and revoked its manufacturing license.
Sresan Pharmaceuticals was first registered as a private company in 1990. However, records show that the firm was later struck off from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ registry yet it continued to operate illegally under a proprietary ownership model. The revelation has raised deep concerns over the loopholes in India’s pharmaceutical oversight system, exposing how banned or deregistered entities continue to produce and distribute drugs without detection.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has since admitted that several pharmaceutical firms across India were bypassing mandatory batch testing for raw materials and active ingredients. A nationwide advisory has been issued, warning all state authorities to re-inspect manufacturing units for compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Madhya Pradesh police confirmed that the probe will now expand beyond Sresan Pharmaceuticals to trace the entire supply chain from chemical suppliers and distributors to medical representatives and retail pharmacists who handled the syrup. Investigators believe that the toxic syrup may have reached multiple states before the recall order was issued.
So far, nine states have banned the sale and distribution of Coldrif syrup, while central agencies are coordinating to retrieve any remaining stock from pharmacies and hospitals. Drug control officers are also examining import logs and chemical sourcing patterns to determine whether the DEG used was industrial-grade and deliberately substituted for cheaper manufacturing.
Ranganathan Govindan faces charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, adulteration of drugs, and endangering public safety, under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. If convicted, he could face a lengthy prison sentence.
Despite mounting evidence, Ranganathan has continued to deny all allegations, claiming that the company followed "standard procedures" and suggesting that “external contamination” might have occurred during distribution. Police officials have dismissed his defence as an attempt to deflect responsibility.
The Coldrif case has reopened India’s painful memory of similar tragedies from the 1998 Gurgaon cough syrup deaths to the 2022 Gambia incident, where Indian-manufactured syrups were blamed for the deaths of dozens of children abroad. Each time, investigations have exposed reckless manufacturing practices, lax inspections, and profit-driven negligence.
As the investigation deepens, this scandal stands as a grim reminder of how regulatory failures and corporate greed can turn medicine the very symbol of care into a weapon of death.
The arrest of Ranganathan Govindan may offer a glimpse of justice, but for the parents who buried their children, no verdict can restore what was lost. The tragedy of Coldrif is not merely a case of toxic syrup it is a brutal indictment of a system that allowed it to happen.
When medicine turns to poison, and the hands meant to heal become agents of death the nation must confront not just a crime, but its conscience.