Nalgonda: 8 arrested for cheating farmers in name of subsidized equipment

Nalgonda: The district police busted an eight members gang, which was cheating the farmers offering agriculture equipment at 50 per cent subsidized price. The gang has collected Rs.3.83 crore from the farmers of 79 villages in the district. Former Water shed assistant Nukala Nagaraju was the kingpin of the fraud team. The arrested were Nukala […]

Nalgonda: The district police busted an eight members gang, which was cheating the farmers offering agriculture equipment at 50 per cent subsidized price. The gang has collected Rs.3.83 crore from the farmers of 79 villages in the district. Former Water shed assistant Nukala Nagaraju was the kingpin of the fraud team.

The arrested were Nukala Nagaraju( 35) from Thipparthy village, Singam Saidulu (35) from Kottagudem, Uppunutala Nagaraju (33) from G.Chennaram, Konda Saidulu (56) from Narsinhapuram, Madan Sudhan Reddy(47) from Kottapalli, Boina Saidulu (30) from Anumula, Batka Saidulu (43) of Agraharam and Chintakayala Santosh (33) from Kalavalapalem.

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Presenting the arrested at a media conference, the Superintendent of Police Rema Rajeshwari informed that after receiving a complaint from a farmer, a special team headed by CCS DSP and Task Force have taken up investigation and arrested the gang members. Nukala Nagaraju, who earlier worked as wastershed assistant for Thipparthy mandal from 2012 to 2017. At that time, then government was giving 75 per cent subsidy on farm equipment to farmers under PSI (Productivity Systems Improvement) scheme.

Nukala Nagraju, using his contacts with the then Watershed Project Officer, used to give some farm commodities under subsidy to some of his acquaintances in Thipparthy village and used to take commission. In 2018, the Telangana government abolished the PSI (Productivity Systems Improvement) scheme. As a result, all outsourced employees working in the watershed scheme were removed.

However, Nukala Nagaraju showed his previous working identity card and said that he would give farm equipment at half the market rate from the Thipparthy mandal Center. He also hired some agents to collect money from gullible farmers and with the money collected from them and bought the farm implements through the agencies in Miryalaguda and extended 1,550 farm equipment to the farmers to gain their faith. In the last two years, Nagaraju along with his agents cheated 498 farmers, who belong to 79 villages of 19 mandals in the district. She informed that cases have filed against the gang members under different sections at Thipparthy, Nalgonda rural, madgulapally and Kanagal police stations.

 

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