Indian police arrest 3 biotech company employees linked to deaths in Uzbekistan

NEW DELHI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Indian police said on Friday that three employees of the Uttar Pradesh-based pharmaceutical firm, Marion Biotech, were arrested after laboratory tests confirmed the company was not manufacturing medicines in compliance with prescribed norms.

The police said the drugs were found to be adulterated and spurious.

Marion Biotech's cough syrup is alleged to have caused the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan last year.

The arrests were made after a case was registered against the company's five officials over a complaint by a drugs inspector of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

"Out of five people named in the police case, three have been arrested," Ram Singh, a senior police officer in Noida, said.

According to Singh, the case is linked to the death of the children in Uzbekistan because it was only after that samples from the pharmaceutical firm were collected for investigation.

Marion Biotech came under the scanner last December after its cough syrup, Doc-1 Max, was linked with the deaths of the 18 Uzbek children.

Following the reports, the Indian government launched an inquiry into the matter.