The toxic chemist

AFTER TESTING THE BOUNDARIES OF REGULATION FOR DECADES, RANGANATHAN FACES CHARGES OF CULPABLE HOMICIDE NOT AMOUNTING TO MURDER, ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, AND DRUG ADULTERATION

- NARAYANAN V

FOR DECADES, GOVIND-HAN Ranganathan operated quietly, almost invisibly, within the cracks of India’s drug manufacturing system.

That changed when a midnight manhunt led to the arrest of the 75-year-old Chennai-based entrepreneur on Thursday by a Special Investigation Team from Madhya Pradesh.

The reason: Coldrif cough syrup, manufactured by his company Sresan Pharmaceuticals, has been linked to the deaths of over 20 children in Madhya Pradesh and illnesses in several other states following which laboratory tests found dangerously high levels of toxic substances in it.

Ranganathan’s arrest followed an intensive hunt that began on October 5, a day after an FIR was filed against the company. Investigators even announced a 20,000 reward for information leading to his capture and tracked his vehicles, residence, and bank transactions to piece together his movements. Officers from Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu launched a coordinated night operation and finally picked him up around 1.30 am in Chennai.

That was a dramatic turn for a man who had spent much of his life working in the shadows of India’s $55 billion pharmaceutical market.