Fertiliser dealer arrested

Black marketing racket of 6,429 urea bags

The Agriculture Department suspended the licences of Sri Shiva Sai Fertiliser Sales Shop, Sri Anjaneya Fertilisers and Sri Ganesh Traders in Siddipet

metro india news I Siddipet

At a time when farmers have been struggling to procure fertilisers, Sandeep Reddy, the owner of Sri Shiva Sai Fertiliser Sales Shop in Cheriyal sold a whopping 6,429 urea bags in the black market. Reddy had borrowed these urea bags from Sri Anjaneya Fertilisers and Sri Ganesh Traders, wholesale traders in Siddipet town.

The Agriculture Department suspended the licences of Sri Shiva Sai Fertiliser Sales Shop, Sri Anjaneya Fertilisers and Sri Ganesh Traders in Siddipet.  The Mandal Agriculture Officer of Cheriyal, Bogeshwara Swamy was suspended for negligence in monitoring the sale of urea in his jurisdiction.

The racket came to light when District Agriculture Officer Swaroopa Rani made an inquiry as reports of non-availability of fertiliser was increasing even after farmers’ mad bookings via an App.

In a press statement on Thursday, Collector K Hymavathi said that the accused had booked the urea bags using the e-pass machine with fake farmers’ Aadhaar numbers and pattadar passbooks.

Since the fertiliser booking app was inactive during April, May and June, the Collector said that Sandeep chose to book the urea through e-pass machines. She said that the State government would disable the app during the off-season. However, the Collector said that the State government could not disable bookings through the e-pass machine since it was under the control of the Centre.

Hymavathi said that the black marketing of subsidised urea would come under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act. She said that stern action would be taken against anyone found selling fertiliser in the black market.