The Madhya Pradesh Police, in coordination with Chennai Police, arrested G. Ranganathan, the owner of Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals, in the early hours of Thursday. His arrest is linked to the deaths of at least 20 children who allegedly consumed a contaminated cough syrup manufactured by his company.
The product in question, a cough syrup branded Coldrif, has been directly blamed for the deaths, which occurred in Madhya Pradesh over recent weeks. Most of the children reportedly died of acute kidney failure after taking the syrup.
According to police officials, Ranganathan was apprehended around 1:30 AM following an intensive operation. He was taken to the Sunguvarchatram police station in Tamil Nadu for preliminary questioning.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier sealed the Sresan Pharmaceuticals manufacturing unit in Kancheepuram. This action came shortly after the scale of the tragedy became clear. The state also banned the sale and distribution of Coldrif from October 1, and ordered that any remaining stock be removed from shelves immediately.
Lab testing later confirmed that the Coldrif syrup contained 48.6 percent diethylene glycol (DEG), a highly toxic industrial solvent. Indian drug safety norms, as well as World Health Organization guidelines, allow no more than 0.1 percent of DEG in pharmaceutical products. The batch in question was manufactured in May 2025 and had an expiry date of April 2027.
According to an NDTV report citing unnamed sources, investigators tracked Ranganathan’s bank activity, vehicle movements, and locations he visited before closing in on him. A day before the arrest, the Chhindwara Police in Madhya Pradesh had issued a reward of ₹20,000 for information leading to Ranganathan’s capture. He will be produced before a court in Chennai to obtain a transit remand and will then be taken to Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh for further legal proceedings.
On October 7, the Drug Control Inspector in Sriperumbudur had issued a show-cause notice to Sresan Pharma regarding irregularities in product quality and labelling.
Subsequent inspections by officials from the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Drugs Control uncovered significant violations. An official told news agency PTI that medicines were found stored in “unhygienic conditions,” including in open corridors, which posed a high risk of contamination.
While Coldrif is the only syrup confirmed to be linked to the child deaths, regulators have also flagged two other cough syrups, Respifresh TR and ReLife, as toxic and unfit for consumption.
Respifresh TR is manufactured by Rednex Pharmaceuticals in Gujarat. Though not linked to any fatalities, it was found to contain 1.342 percent of diethylene glycol. The syrup, made in January 2025 and set to expire in December 2026, has been recalled. The company has been ordered to halt all pharmaceutical production.
Similarly, ReLife, made by Shape Pharma, also in Gujarat, was contaminated with 0.616 percent DEG. Though there have been no deaths associated with this syrup, it has also been recalled, and the manufacturer has been told to suspend production.
All three syrups were sold only within India and were not exported. However, the World Health Organization has issued a warning, cautioning that contaminated syrups could still reach consumers through unregulated or informal supply chains.
