Khammam: Police in the Khammam Commissionerate took action against three groups involved in making fake seeds. They aimed to stop the illegal seed trade.
On Friday, Commissioner Sunil Dutt shared in Enkoor that officers seized 560 kg of fake seeds worth Rs 14 lakh in three separate incidents. They arrested nine individuals as part of their ongoing investigation.
The arrested individuals are Ummaneni Naresh, Annem Lakshminarayana, Guguloth Gopi, V Ramesh, Tamballa Naveen, D Ramesh, Gajula Narasimha Rao, Cherlapalli Shalivahana, and Poleti Koteswara Rao.
Venigandala Srihari Rao from Himam Nagar and Venigandla Ravi from Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh are still on the run.
Authorities are working hard to ensure farmers get high-quality seeds. The Commissioner urged people to report any sales of fake seeds to the local police or Mandal Agriculture Officer.
During the raids, local gangs in the Enkoor and Kallur mandals were found to be sourcing fake seeds from places in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. These gangs used brand labels like Arunodaya, Advance 555, and Pallavi Seeds to package the seeds after treating them with rizobin. They possessed large amounts of rizobin, weighing machines, and numerous empty packets.
Commissioner Dutt stated that task force teams will keep a close watch on the market to prevent the sale of counterfeit seeds.
