Inter-state spurious cotton seeds racket busted in Telangana; one held

The Thurkapally Police, with Agriculture Department officials, busted an inter-state racket dealing in spurious BG-II cotton seeds and arrested one person while seizing seeds worth Rs 10 lakh.

Hyderabad: The Thurkapally Police, in coordination with agriculture department officials, busted an interstate spurious cotton seeds racket and arrested one person while seizing banned BG-II cotton seeds worth around Rs 10 lakh.

The suspect Dondapati Mallikarjuna Rao (36) of Kesanapalli village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, was apprehended near the Thurkapally bus stand while allegedly transporting spurious BG-II cotton seeds from Guntur to Siddipet for illegal sale. Another suspect, Shankar of B. Kothakota in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, is absconding.

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During the operation, officials seized five bags containing 70 kg of cotton seed packets branded as “BILLA BG-II 999” and 80 kg of loose spurious cotton seeds, weighing a total of 150 kg.

During interrogation, Mallikarjuna Rao reportedly admitted that he, along with the absconding accused, had procured and transported the seeds for sale to farmers by claiming they would provide higher yields and better crop productivity, said Thurkapally Sub-Inspector, Mohammed Thakiuddin.

The police investigators found that the suspects could not produce any valid licence, transport permit, invoices, stock registers, or authorization documents for the seeds.

Police said the use of such prohibited and spurious cotton seeds could lead to poor germination, crop failure, financial losses to farmers, and long-term damage to agricultural productivity.