[Xinhua News Agency micro-feature] Indian police said on the 9th that they had arrested langanathan, the owner of Sresang Pharmaceutical, a "poisonous syrup" enterprise. The cough syrup produced by the pharmaceutical company has been linked to the deaths of at least 21 children under the age of 5 in Madhya Pradesh.

According to AFP and Indian media reports, 75-year-old Langnan was arrested in his home in Guinness, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, on the morning of the 9th and will be transferred to central Punjab after appearing in court.

According to Reuters, after several children died in Madhya Pradesh last month, a local laboratory found that the level of diethylene glycol in a cough syrup produced by "Sresan Pharmaceutical" exceeded the prescribed upper limit by nearly 500 times. Diethylene glycol is used to make antifreeze and cosmetics, etc., and can cause symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, acute kidney damage and even be fatal. After that, the pharmaceutical factory's offices and factories in Tamil Nadu, southern India, were closed, and the sales of the products involved were banned in several Indian states.

The central state local drug regulatory authorities have stepped up their actions to strictly control the circulation of contaminated drugs, including cough control and recycling of cough bottles from home to home.

In addition, syrups sold by two other Indian pharmaceutical companies were also found to have exceeded diethylene glycol standards. The two pharmaceutical companies are located in Gujarat, the pharmaceutical hub of India.

The WHO said the incident highlighted gaps in domestic drug regulation in India and warned that some of the products involved could be exported through informal channels.

According to the media, the cough syrup involved is only sold in India. However, the WHO is asking the Indian government to clarify whether the syrups are exported to other countries. Drugs produced in India are exported in large quantities to developing countries. From 2022 to 2023, India's export of diethylene glycol-containing "toxic syrup" is believed to be linked to the deaths of more than 140 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon. (End)(Qiao Ying)