The Nalgonda police on Tuesday nabbed 23 persons for allegedly producing and selling spurious cotton seed to farmers in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A total of 15 quintal seed worth ₹ 30 lakh was seized from them.
Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath produced the accused before media, and said the suspicions were aroused when four such packets were sold in Munugode police station limits, this led to a deeper investigation and breaking the of the syndicate now.
Based on inputs, the banned BG-III cotton seed and other seed variants were traced to Nandyal in Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh. And the trail led to Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, and several mandals in Nalgonda.
“Through a rigorous investigation we zeroed in on persons producing the foundation seed, those developing them, the distribution network and the retailers. Soon the prime accused in the syndicate will be booked under PD Act,” Mr. Ranganath said.
The district police, the SP said, was conducting awareness programmes with agriculture stores across Nalgonda, on spurious seeds, fertiliser and other farm inputs.
Empty packets, weighing machines, cellphones and vehicles were also seized by the police. Search for more persons involved in the racket is on.
