Telangana: Khammam police raid urea shops; farmers stage dharna in Mahabubabad

Khammam police raided five fertiliser shops forcing farmers to buy products to access urea and sought licence cancellation. Meanwhile, Mahabubabad witnessed farmer protests and chaos at PACS centres, with long queues, missing Aadhaar cards, and limited stock sparking widespread anger

Khammam/Mahabubabad: Khammam police on Wednesday cracked down on fertiliser shops accused of imposing conditions on farmers seeking to purchase urea.

Commissioner of Police Sunil Dutt said the task force raided five shops and registered cases after finding that farmers were being forced to buy other fertilisers and pesticides in order to obtain urea.

Surprise checks were carried out in Nelakondapalli, Chintakani, Raghunadhapalem, and Sathupalli mandals based on reliable information. Officials found that urea was being sold along with biostimulants against the farmers’ will.

Police have recommended cancellation of trade licences for the erring shops. Dutt urged farmers to immediately inform local police and agriculture officials if shopkeepers impose any conditions while selling urea.

In Mahabubabad, farmers staged a massive dharna at the Nellikudur Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) office. Former MP Maloth Kavitha, who participated in the protest, alleged that farmers were facing severe hardships under the Congress government and demanded immediate supply of urea. Women farmers complained that they had been waiting in queues since the previous night.

At Thorrur mandal headquarters, farmers expressed anger after PACS staff informed them that only 44 bags of urea were available despite hundreds waiting since 4 a.m. Tensions escalated when staff claimed Aadhaar cards collected from farmers on August 15 could not be traced.

Farmers accused officials of discarding Aadhaar photocopies and passbooks in the bathroom, leading to pandemonium before police intervened. Agriculture officer Ramnarsaiah, SI G. Upender, and ASI Sivaramakrishna later divided the farmers into groups and distributed the limited urea stock.