Inter-state spurious cotton seed racket busted, 7 held in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Cyberabad police busted an inter-state spurious seed racket and seized 2.65 tonnes of fake (BG-III/HT) cotton seeds, which had been banned by Telangana government.
Seven persons were arrested when they were transporting the spurious seeds to gullible farmers, said Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Raveendra, adding it was the biggest catch in 2023.
At a press conference here on Friday, CP said the accused - Sada Shiva Reddy, K Taysappa, B Ramchander, B Suresh, G Venkata Ramana, P Raghupathi Reddy and K Praveen Kumar Reddy - were arrested from Bachupally, Balanagar and Shabad. The accused were arrested under section 420 (cheating) of IPC and section 19 of the Seeds Act.
Shiva Reddy, who is a native of Karnataka's Yadgir district, runs Raghavendra Seeds and Pesticides shop at Putpak in Yadgir. "Previously, he worked as a seed organiser in a biotech company and has good knowledge about BG-III/HT cotton seeds. He knows the process of how to procure seeds and how to sell them to farmers," CP said.
Shiva Reddy along with Tayappa, Ramchander and Suresh joined hands and decided to sell fake seeds at Bachupally and Balanagar.
On Thursday, cops recovered 23 bags (1,400 kg) of BG-III cotton seeds when they were transporting them in a car. Suresh is a repeat offender against whom nine criminal cases were registered, police said.
Venkata Ramana, who belongs to AP's Nellore district, migrated to Doulatabad in Telangana's Vikarabad district 30 years ago. He has also worked in a biotech company and has fair knowledge on BG-III cotton seeds, police said.
He took a piece of land on lease at Gokapasalvad village in Vikarabad and cultivated BG-III/HT cotton seeds there. After collecting BG-III/HT cotton from farmers, he would send the stock to a ginning mill for separation of seed.
"Venkata Ramana got in touch with local seed sellers Raghupathi, Praveen and others in 2020 and began selling banned cotton seeds to farmers in Shabad area. We recovered 100 kg of cotton seeds from a car. Based on their inputs, remaining spurious seeds of 1,150 kg were recovered from a godown," CP said.
Agricultural officers meanwhile cautioned farmers not to fall prey to these illegal sellers. "Farmers should buy seeds only from authorised traders. BG-1 seed will have to be sold at 635 per packet and BG-2 has to be sold at 853 a packet," an officer said.