Varanasi: Police intensified the manhunt for Vaishali Jaiswal, wife of multi-crore codeine syrup smuggling syndicate’s fugitive kingpin Shubham Jaiswal, after a Varanasi court recently issued a non-bailable warrant against her. Vaishali is also accused in cases of fraud and other offences and has been absconding.
Vaishali has been absconding since the police began investigating the codeine syrup smuggling case in Oct 2025 and registered a case against her. After Sonbhadra Police busted the racket smuggling codeine cough syrup to countries like Bangladesh for narcotic uses in Oct 2025, the first case against Shubham and 27 others was lodged in Varanasi on Nov 15, 2025. Police have started conducting raids at her residences in Jagatganj and Kayasth Tola in Adampur, besides possible hideouts of her close associates. During the investigation, police found that Shubham had invested the illegally earned money from codeine cough syrup smuggling in his wife Vaishali’s name. Apart from valuable properties in the Sigra area, her name has also surfaced in the procurement of a licence for a liquor shop. The court has directed police to arrest her immediately and produce her before it. Shubham’s father Bhola Prasad and several other accused in this case have already been arrested, while properties worth several crores of many accused have also been forfeited. Bhola is a habitual offender involved in the illegal diversion and black-market sale of codeine-based cough syrup.
ACP (Kotwali) Vijay Pratap Singh said on Monday that following the court’s order, special police teams have been pressed into action to trace Vaishali.