Subsidised and compound urea repacked and sold
Fake fertiliser, subsidised stock and truck seized
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Acting on Saturday (May 2), a flying squad of the Agriculture Department raided a warehouse at Vanjarwadi and exposed a bogus fertiliser operation. It was found that subsidised urea and compound fertilisers were being repacked into bags meant for industrial use and then sold.
During the action, a truck and 138 metric tonnes of fertiliser stock worth around ₹26 lakh were seized. A case has been registered at Daulatabad police station against Sachin Maroti Nifal, Anil Balaprasad Mantri, Balaji Phosphate Limited, and Ganesh Krushi Udyog.
Agriculture Development Officer Prakash Patil of the Zilla Parishad had received confidential information about illegal repacking and sale of fertilisers at the Vanjarwadi warehouse. Following this, a team led by Divisional Joint Director of Agriculture Sunil Wankhede, District Superintendent Agriculture Officer Anand Ganjewar, and Zilla Parishad Agriculture Development Officer Prakash Patil conducted the raid. The team included divisional quality control and technical officer Ashish Kaluse, district flying squad members Pankaj Tajne and Haribhau Katore, quality inspector Shrikrishna Bandgar, and taluka agriculture officers Meghshyam Gulve and Govind Paul.
A large quantity of fertiliser stock was found stored without a licence at the site. The team discovered ongoing repacking and sale of chemical fertilisers. Subsidised urea was being repacked into bags meant for industrial use. It was also found that low-quality, cheaper fertilisers were being packed into fake bags printed to resemble those of reputed companies.
What was found?
Unlabelled fertiliser-filled bags were found in the warehouse. A total of 24,355 printed empty bags bearing names of various companies, used bags of subsidised urea, and 132 filled sacks were recovered. A truck (MH-28 BB 7878) carrying 700 sacks (35 metric tonnes) of fertiliser was also seized. Goods worth ₹26,62,762 were confiscated in the operation. Five labourers were found present at the site.