Police in Telangana, India arrested ten people who were trying to sell fake seeds to unsuspecting farmers. The operation was conducted jointly by the Special Operations Team (SOT) and the Agricultural Department, and resulted in the recovery of contraband worth Rs 95 lakh. Acting on specific information, the sleuths of the Special Operations Team and officials raided the premises and arrested five people in the first case. Five others were caught in the second case. Spurious cotton seeds were seized from the two sites that were intended for sale to farmers.
The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, Stephen Ravindra, stated that three tonnes of spurious cotton seeds and over 14,000 empty pouches, both of which are banned by the Government of Telangana, were confiscated from the ten arrested suspects. The perpetrators had been storing the fake seeds in a room on the railway station road located in Medchal and had planned to sell them to farmers in the region.
According to the police, the accused had even gone so far as to create their own branded packaging and distribute the bogus goods on the market. They had a good reason: they knew there was demand for BG-III/HT cotton seeds and anticipated making a significant profit from their sale.
The police arrest of the suspects has kept farmers in the region safe from being defrauded and has gotten some dangerous counterfeiters off the streets. The operation should serve as a warning to those who want to profit from illegal activities in the future. Action will continue to be taken against those who attempt to deceive farmers or perpetrate scams and other illegal activities across the region.
