Cops bust substandard cotton seeds racket

Mancherial: The district police along with agriculture department authorities have busted spurious seeds racket in Mancherial district.

During the joint operation, the authorities seized 147 bags of substandard cotton seeds worth Rs 65.50 lakhs and arrested 13 members of an inter-State gang involved in sale and supply of substandard cotton seeds, here on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, Ramagundam Commissioner of Police V Satyanarayana said that acting over a tip off, task force formed into six teams and conducted search operation in Mancherial, Ramakrishnapur, Mandamarri, Tallagurijala, Nennela and Kannepalli and detained 13 people and seized 33 quintals of counterfeit cotton seeds.

According to the police, a few local people and a few persons of Guntur area are staying in Bellampalli and Mancherial areas and bought substandard cotton seeds at a very low price from Guntur, Kurnool, Nandyal, Gujrat State and other places and selling it to poor farmers.