Cough Syrup Scandal: Aadhaar-PAN Lure Exposed, Influential Figures Implicated in Varanasi

• Shubham Jaiswal's network lured individuals with promises of ₹40-50k/month for their Aadhaar and PAN cards.
• These documents were used to register fake firms, obtain GST numbers, and acquire drug licenses with fake experience certificates.
• The fake firms facilitated illicit cough syrup billing and hawala money conversion, with influential figures involved.
• Varanasi Police and FSDA identified over 55 paper-only firms linked to Shubham Jaiswal's New Vriddhi Pharma and Shaili Traders.
• ADCP Neetu Kadyan stressed physical verification for future licenses; Prateek Gujarati, Divesh, Amit, and 49 others are under scrutiny.

Why It Matters: Aadhaar-PAN cards were exploited to create fake firms for a massive cough syrup and hawala scam.