The Karnataka State Police arrested two persons and picked up two more for inquiry on Tuesday when they stumbled upon a fake fertilizer unit functioning in Vaniyambadi.
The police team from Karnataka had arrived in Vaniyambadi four days ago in search of a unit manufacturing fake fertilizers, based on a complaint lodged by some farmers of Hasan district in Karnataka.
The Vaniyambadi Police said a team of Karnataka police led by inspector Srikanth attached to the Chenrayapatna police station and some officials of the agricultural department of Haasan district had arrived in Vellore and inspected various places in Vaniyambadi including Perumalpettai, Valayampattu and Mallakuppam. During the inspection they identified the godowns that were into the manufacturing of fake fertilizers.
Superintendent of Police, Vellore, P Vijaya Kumar said the local police had extended their support to the Karnataka Police in busting the racket.
Vaniyambadi Deputy Superintendent of Police Manickam said, “The police have identified the godowns and found two truck loads of fake fertilizers with the label ‘Urea’ pasted on them.”
The accused had used the salt as preservatives on raw leather that had been thrown as waste, to prepare the ‘fertilizer’. They had allegedly mixed some other chemicals and packed it in an empty cover bearing the name of a private fertilizer company in Karnataka.
The accused have been identified as Babu and Venkatesan, while Devaraj and Moorthy were picked up for inquiry. The police have also launched a manhunt for one Kumar, suspected to have been involved in the manufacturing of the fake fertilizer business.
Vaniyambadi Tahshildar Geetharani and officials of the agricultural department also accompanied the Karnataka team, during their search in Vaniyambadi.