VIJAYAWADA: Krishna district sub-collector G Saisurya Praveen Chand donned the attire of a farmer to make some surprise checks at fertilizer stores after receiving complaints about MRP violations.
Wearing a lungi, torn shirt, and a towel to look like a farmer, Praveen Chand first went to Venkata Naga Datha Agencies, a fertilizer store at Kaikaluru, on a bike and asked for urea and DAP. The shop owner told him the price but asked him to collect them from his warehouse.
After collecting the stock, the sub-collector found that a bag of urea was being sold at Rs 280 when the MRP was Rs 266, while DAP, which costs Rs 1,200, was being sold for Rs 1,250. He immediately called up the mandal revenue officer and agriculture officials concerned to the shop and directed them to book a case against the shop owner for MRP violations. The shop was also sealed.
Another shop, Vasavi Fertilizers, was also sealed for illegally stashing fertilisers. The shop owner told Praveen Chand they do not have any stocks. However, when officials inspected the warehouse, they found large quantities of fertilizer stocks. Another fertilizer shop was found closed at Mudinepalli, but when officials went to the warehouse, they found enough stocks. The motive was to stash stocks to create artificial scarcity.
