Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The Agriculture Department's flying squad has registered a case against companies based in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh for selling chemical fertilizers illegally without a valid license on Saturday.
The raid was conducted on Saturday in Kadethan Khurd village, Paithan taluka, following a tip-off. Police have taken three individuals into custody, and 20 sacks of fertilizer have been seized. The accused include Dharmendra Vishwakarma, Ramakant Vishwakarma, and Indrajeet Yadav local representatives of Purvi Crop India (Nijampur, Taluka Sakri, Dist. Dhule) and Supreme Kamdhenu Fertilizer Company (Gujarat). Divisional Quality Control Officer Ashish Kalushe acted upon a tip-off about unauthorized sales of low-cost chemical fertilizers. A team comprising flying squad officer Pankaj Tajne and campaign officer Santosh Jadhav visited Kadethan for verification. There, Ramakant and Indrajeet, both residents of Uttar Pradesh, were found promoting and selling fertilizer bags labeled as 10:26:26 grade, claiming them to be cheaper and effective alternatives. They had already sold 20 sacks and were in the village to collect pending payments from farmers. When asked to present invoices and sales licenses, the duo failed to provide any valid documents. Upon further questioning, company representative Dharmendra Vishwakarma admitted to supplying the fertilizers. Kalushe then contacted him via mobile and received a copy of a sales license, which listed “Carrier-Based Consortium” as the fertilizer type. However, when confronted, license holder Vilas Sonawane and Vishwakarma were unable to produce invoice records. Further inspection revealed that the fertilizer sacks, labeled as "Carrier-Based Consortium" and "Bio-Fertilizer," did not mention an expiry date. The products were manufactured by Supreme Kamdhenu Fertilizer Company (Gujarat), while Purvi Crop India was listed as the authorized distributor. The case has been registered at thePaithan Police Station.
(With photograph)