European-style interiors, 7000-sq-ft home, Gucci & Prada bags – Arrest of ex-cop lifts veil on UP cough syrup probe
To date, around 3.5 lakh bottles of cough syrup, valued at approximately ₹4.5 crore, have been seized, and 32 people have been taken into custody in connection with the racket
Alok Pratap Singh being brought to the CJM’s court in Lucknow on Monday(HT_PRINT)
Arrest of a dismissed police constable in connection with the codeine-laced cough syrup case in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow has revealed a trail of European-style interiors and spiral staircases to handbags of major brands Prada and Gucci, Rado watches, which were seized by officials.
According to a report by news wire PTI, the 7,000-sq-ft home of the constable has ornate European-style interiors and spiral staircases, plus vintage-style lights.
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Lucknow: An armed security official stands guard during a raid at the palatial residence of dismissed Uttar Pradesh police constable Alok Pratap Singh, an accused in the codeine-based cough syrup trafficking case, in Lucknow, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (PTI Photo/Nand Kumar)(PTI12_12_2025_000331A)(PTI)
UP Police's Special Task Force arrested constable Alok Pratap Singh, who has been dismissed from service twice, on 2 December. The dismissed constable's name cropped up during the interrogation of another accused, Amit Kumar Singh alias Amit Tata, in the ongoing probe into the cough syrup racket. He is currently lodged in Lucknow jail.
What is the cough syrup racket?
The cough syrup racket, which allegedly laundered ₹1,000 crore, is about selling codeine-based cough syrups (CBCS) as intoxicants for drug abuse.
To date, around 3.5 lakh bottles of cough syrup, valued at approximately ₹4.5 crore, have been seized, and 32 people have been taken into custody in connection with the racket.
How Alok Pratap Singh is linked to the case?
Police officials claimed that Alok Pratap Singh was part of this network and ran wholesale cough syrup units in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. From these units, the syrup was allegedly smuggled to other states and even trafficked across borders into Bangladesh and Nepal.
Not just a part of the cough syrup racket, Alok Pratap Singh allegedly even mentored young men from Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, and Varanasi, leveraging his connections in police and political circles, to facilitate the operations, officials have said, as per PTI.
Who is Alok Pratap Singh?
Singh – who hails from Chandauli – had a career in the police force that was marked by controversy. He was first arrested in 2006 in connection with a case involving 4 kg of looted gold and was dismissed from service, though he was later reinstated after being acquitted.
Fresh allegations led to his second dismissal in 2019, after which he reportedly turned to business ventures, cultivating connections that allegedly facilitated his role in the syrup network, reported PTI.
Cough syrup case - Who all have been arrested?
The prime accused in the case – Shubham Jaiswal, is believed to have fled to Dubai, while his father, Bhola Jaiswal, has been taken into custody.
Three of the five key ‘super-stockists' – Bhola Jaiswal from Varanasi, Vibhor Rana from Saharanpur, and Saurabh Tyagi from Ghaziabad - have been arrested, and action is underway against two other accused.
