Mild tension as farmers stage rasta-roko protesting diversion of seeds in Adilabad

They staged a sit-in on a road near Punjab chowk, resulting in blockade of the traffic for a while.

Adilabad: A mild tension prevailed for a while when cotton farmers staged a rasta-roko demanding action against a seed trader accusing him of diverting seeds to Ichoda, here on Thursday.

Farmers, who were struggling to buy a variety of cotton seeds for the last three days, caught a vehicle carrying seeds from Nikhil Traders to Echoda mandal. They handed over the vehicle to the police. They raised objections to the management for diverting the seeds. They alleged that the traders were creating an artificial shortage of the seeds to mint extra cost.

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They staged a sit-in on a road near Punjab chowk, resulting in blockade of the traffic for a while. Upon learning about the protest, police led by Adilabad DSP L Jeevan Reddy, reached the spot and held consultations with the farmers. Police managed to pacify the agitating farmer by promising to probe into the diversion of the seeds.

Jeevan Reddy said that action would be taken against the trader if seeds were illegally diverted.

Meanwhile, some traders displayed boards of no stock of seeds in Adilabad town, shocking farmers. The outlets, which were swarmed by farmers till Wednesday, went out of the stock, surprising many.

Officials of the agriculture department said that they were holding consultations with manufacturers of the seeds and taking steps to ensure sufficient seeds for farmers.

Farmers were lining up before shops for buying the cotton seeds by forming serpentine queue lines facing sweltering heat wave conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday.