In Hyderabad, the Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT), Medchal, and Shamirpet police, along with officials from the Agricultural Department, caught two people for illegally transporting banned cotton seeds. They seized 1.2 tons of prohibited cotton seeds (BG-III/HT) and 1,560 kg of onion bags used to hide them, totaling Rs 30 lakh.
The two arrested individuals are Gaddam Srikanth (38) and Goshika Naveen Kumar (31), who work as drivers. Shivaiah, also known as Siddaiah, Pindi Suresh, and another person who supplies the banned seeds are on the run.
According to the police, Srikanth and Naveen Kumar are professional drivers. Shivaiah and Suresh Yadav, a vehicle owner, each paid them Rs 5,000 for a trip. They were sent to Kushtagi town in Karnataka to transport seeds to Mandamarri in Telangana.
The police explained that Shivaiah and Suresh instructed an unknown person to take their empty vehicle and return with 1.2 tons of BG-III cotton seeds and 1,560 kg of onion bags to hide them. The load was disguised as onions to avoid being caught by the police.
During the investigation, the drivers admitted to making a similar trip on April 14 and transporting the same quantity of seeds from the same person.
