Indian police have arrested the owner of a pharmaceutical company after a cough syrup made at his plant was linked to the deaths of at least 21 children, officials said on Thursday.

Most of the children, all aged under five, died in Madhya Pradesh state over the past month after they were prescribed the syrup, which was contaminated with a deadly toxin.

Cough syrups manufactured in India have come under global scrutiny in recent years, with deaths linked to their consumption reported in several countries, damaging its reputation as the third-largest producer of drugs and pharmaceuticals by volume.

G. Ranganathan, 75, was arrested early on Thursday morning at his home in Chennai by police from the city and from Madhya Pradesh.

He was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and adulteration of drugs, police sources told AFP and Indian media reported.

The cough syrup, sold under the brand name Coldrif, was manufactured by Sresan Pharma at a unit in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The Indian health ministry said on Saturday tests on samples showed they were contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic substance used in industrial solvents that can be fatal even if ingested in small amounts.

Madhya Pradesh and several other states have banned the product.

Indian media reports said the World Health Organization had sought clarification from Indian officials about whether the toxic cough syrup had been exported to other countries.

More than 70 children died in Gambia from acute kidney failure after consuming a cough syrup imported from India in 2022.

In Uzbekistan, 68 children died between 2022 and 2023 after consuming another contaminated syrup produced in India.

In January 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration partnered with the World Health Organization and other international partners to investigate the source of contaminated cough syrups that killed more than 300 children in Asia and Africa.

India is the third-largest drug producer by volume after the U.S. and China, according to the Reuters news agency.

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