Ongole: Prakasam police launched surprise raids across 121 fertiliser shops, warehouses, and PACS outlets in the district on Tuesday to combat black market trading amid the peak agricultural season when demand for fertilizers and pesticides is at its highest.

The operation was conducted under District SP AR Damodar’s supervision, coordinating DSPs, CIs, SIs, and agriculture department officials.

The raids targeted traders allegedly hoarding urea and selling it through black market channels, exploiting farmers during the crucial farming period.

During the comprehensive inspections, officials scrutinised stock records, Point of Sale (PoS) machine entries, distribution registers, and sales documents. Special attention was given to urea stocks to prevent their diversion to black markets. Authorities carefully examined discrepancies between actual inventory and recorded stocks in PoS systems.

The police officials warned shop owners to maintain accurate stock records and avoid selling fertilisers above the government-prescribed Maximum Retail Price (MRP). Police urged citizens to report any irregularities in fertiliser and pesticide sales to nearby police stations or agriculture department officials. Officials warned that such surprise inspections will continue regularly to ensure fair distribution practices across the district.