India, Dec. 18 -- LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that a massive scam involving the illegal supply of codeine-based cough syrups running into thousands of crores originated in Uttar Pradesh and accused the BJP government of shielding those involved.

The cough syrup case would be raised during the UP assembly's winter session, which kicks off on Friday, he said addressing a press conference at the party office in Lucknow.

This comes after Varanasi Police on December 10 conducted a major crackdown on the illegal trade of banned codeine-based cough syrup, seizing around 30,000 bottles from a godown in the city, with an estimated value of approximately Rs.60 lakh.

The SP is also set to raise other criti...