Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 18: The owner of a medical here was arrested by Suratkal police on Saturday January 17 on the allegation of selling cough syrup containing intoxicants without seeking production of prescription from a registered medical practitioner.
The arrested person has been identified as Edwin Monteiro (40), who owns and operates Ave Maria Medicals at Suratkal. It is said that he had sold syrup containing intoxicating substance to Mohammed Shahid (23) from Chokkabettu, and Nizamuddin (21) from Katipalla without any medical prescription.
Monteiro was taken into custody when both these youth, who bought the syrup from the medical shop, were consuming them on the spot.
It is said that the syrup contains Codeine Phosphate in considerable quantities, and that this substance can be sold and used only for medical purposes and not as an intoxicant. Consumption of this substance in higher doses can inflict fatal damage to the body of the person as the level of intoxication exceeds prescribed limit.
In the past, local MLA, B A Mohiuddin Bava, had informed the city police commissioner that there has been widespread habit of consuming cough syrup containing intoxicating substance in Suratkal, and asked him to investigate the issue. Following this, Suratkal police had kept constant vigil, and succeeded in making the arrest.
The arrested accused was produced in court, after which he was remanded to judicial custody till January 31. Panambur assistant commissioner of police, Ravikumar, said that he has information about widespread prevalence of such a practice in and around Suratkal, and has warned that an investigation team is being formed to stop the practice of selling medicines as an alternative to intoxicants.