Brake fluid in cough syrup: Tamil Nadu vs Madhya Pradesh over Coldrif deaths - But who is to blame?

The death toll in the Madhya Pradesh cough syrup tragedy climbed to 23 on Thursday, leading to a blame game between the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh and the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government.

Both sides have accused each other of negligence and regulatory failure in the production and testing of the toxic medicine.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav held Tamil Nadu responsible, alleging that Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the Tamil Nadu-based company behind the adulterated Coldrif syrup, was allowed to operate despite repeated safety lapses. “We have dismissed our drug controller and assistant drug controller for negligence. But Tamil Nadu must answer how it allowed a firm to mix brake-fluid chemicals into medicine,” Yadav said after visiting the families of the victims in Nagpur.

Responding to the charge, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian claimed that his government had already alerted the Centre and Madhya Pradesh authorities after detecting traces of diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic industrial solvent, in the syrup.

“The Centre and MP government had cleared the drug, but we warned them. We have now ordered criminal action against the company and will permanently shut down its unit within days,” he said.

Two senior Tamil Nadu drug inspectors, Deepa Joseph and K Karthikeyan, were suspended for failing to properly inspect the Sresan plant. An internal audit had earlier found as many as 364 critical safety lapses in its production process.

Death toll mounts

Two more children, both under the age of two, died on Thursday at Nagpur’s Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), taking the total fatalities to 23. Doctors confirmed that the victims suffered acute kidney failure and brain damage caused by DEG poisoning after consuming Coldrif syrup.

Most of the deaths, 20 of them, were reported from Chhindwara district, with others from nearby regions.

Meanwhile, police arrested 75-year-old Govindan Ranganathan, the owner of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, from his Chennai residence. Along with him, his manager Jayaraman and lab assistant Maheswari were also detained. A Chennai court granted a transit warrant to transfer all three to Chhindwara for further questioning.

Authorities seized more than 2,100 bottles of Coldrif syrup, including nearly 600 from Chhindwara alone. Lab tests confirmed that Batch SR-13 contained dangerously high levels of DEG. Following the report, the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Department sealed Sresan’s factory in Kanchipuram and suspended its manufacturing licence.

Ranganathan, who carried a Rs 20,000 reward for his arrest, now faces charges under multiple laws, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Anger on the streets

The tragedy has triggered public anger across Madhya Pradesh. Opposition leader Kamal Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara, accused the state government of trying to cover up the full extent of the disaster. “Even after so many deaths, the official report avoids mentioning that the syrup was poisonous. Who is the government trying to protect?” Nath said.

Protests and candlelight marches were held in Bhopal and other cities on Thursday evening. Congress workers demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who also holds the health portfolio, and sought justice for the victims’ families.