Narketpally police busts spurious cotton seed racket

The Narketpally police arrested a three-member gang and seized 10 tonnes of spurious seed from the warehouse

Nalgonda: In a joint operation, the Task Force and Narketpally police on Wednesday arrested a three-member gang and seized 10 tonnes of spurious cotton seeds worth Rs.1.8 crore from them.

The arrested gang members were Gorantla Nagarjuna (43) from Secunderabad, Gaddam Ravindra Babu (29) from Agrepadu in Palnadu district and Merige Venu (40) from Jillela village of Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh. Another gang member Narsimha from Madanapally in AP was at large.

---

Superintendent of Police K Apoorva Rao said that following the instructions from the State government to act stern on spurious seed marketing, the district police had intensified surveillance with the help of Agriculture officials on persons moving suspiciously in the district.

On credible information, Task Force and Narketpally police apprehended a vehicle and found two packets of spurious seeds. On questioning the three persons in the vehicle, they revealed that they had purchased the low quality seeds from some farmers in Karnataka and stored them in a warehouse at Dachepally of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.

They were then smuggling the spurious seeds to sell to farmers in Nagpur in Maharashta at higher prices. The police seized 10 tonnes of spurious seed from the warehouse.

The SP, who said the seized seeds were banned by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, said the PD Act would be invoked against those found involved in marketing of spurious seeds.