Inter-state racket in smuggling of fertiliser busted

Nagpur, Jun 20 (UNI) An inter-state racket in smuggling of fertiliser was busted with seizure of 1,067 bags, containing 53 tonnes of fake fertilizer, worth over Rs 5 lakhs, from two different places in Nagpur district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Eight persons have been arrested in this connection, police said today. The fertilizer was seized from four trucks during action over the last two days, Nagpur district (Rural) Superintendent of Police (SP) Yashaswi Yadav told UNI.

The fertilizer was adulterated with donamite dust, a substance banned in Maharashtra, he said, adding that only nitrogen, phosphorous and potash were allowed to be used for manufacture of fertilizers.

The spurious fertilizer had been manufactured at factories at Satnur in Chhindwara district and Balaghat, both in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh (MP), and had been smuggled into Maharashtra without proper documentation, Mr Yadav said.

The arrested include four supervisors of the factory at Satnur, he said.

The arrested had been identified as Mahesh Harilal Daherwar (32), Dama Dhamilal Parteki (45), Pankaj Ramkumar Kurmechachan (32), all residents of MP, who were driving the trucks, Rahul Brijvilas Singh (22), Dipak Arunkumar Soni (24), Vinodkumar Surajpal Yadav (30), Pawankumar Vijaypal Gupta (35), all residents of UP, who were working as supervisors in the factories, and Yogendrakumar Radheshyam Singh (36), a resident of Nagpur, who is the attorney of one of the companies, the SP said.

Mr Yadav said the Satnur-based Navratna Fertilizer Company was earlier known as Narmada Fertilizer, and its licence had been cancelled in March 2007 for a similar offence, while the factory in Balaghat was operating in the name of Narmada Phosphates, he said, adding that the two firms are suspected to be sister concerns.

The owners of the two factories, identified as Surender Gupta and Shailendra Gupta, were absconding, he said. Offences had been registered under sections of 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides section 3 (7) of the Essential Commodities Act, he added.

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