THOOTHUKUDI: The Kulathur police busted an illegal godown at Thalavaipuram near Kurukusalai on Tuesday and seized 14,400 kg of urea and 2,400 kg of beedi leaves. Nine persons have been arrested in connection with the seizure and search is on for five more.
Sources said the police personnel were conducting a road check when a vehicle with a gunny bag stitching machine came their way. Upon questioning, the men in the vehicle gave contradictory answers. Growing suspicious over their response, the police interrogated them further and received information about the godown at Thalavaipuram.
The men led the police to the facility, where they had amassed urea and beedi leaves illegally. Agriculture officials were brought in to examine the stock. The officials identified the fertiliser as the urea commodity, which is provided by the government to farmers at a subsidised rate.
Further inquiries revealed that the suspects had purchased 14,400 kg of subsidised urea from 'Tamilnadu ura kadai', a private fertiliser shop at Sholavandan near Madurai. They had unpacked the urea from the government-provided yellow sacks and filled them into white bags for trading them to industries at a higher price.
Ottapidaram Agriculture Officer Sivagami, who is also a fertiliser inspector, lodged a formal complaint in this regard with the Kulathur police. The cost of each urea bag weighing 45 kg is `1,599.90. However, the government supplies it to farmers at a subsidised cost of `266.50 per bag. The godown had no authorisation to stock fertilisers, she said in the complaint.
During the inspection, the police also found 60 kg of beedi leaves stored in 50 bundles. They were allegedly meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka via the sea route. As per the FIR registered at Kulathur station, the police seized 110 yellow bags of urea containing 45 kg each, and 189 white bags each containing 50 kg urea, valued at total `5 lakh. The estimated worth of the 2,400 kg of beedi leaves seized was `20 lakh, the FIR read.
The police have booked 14 persons under section 132 and 351(3) of BNS and sections 12, 19(c)(i), 19(c)(ii) and 19(c)(iii) of the Fertiliser Control Order, 1985, and sections 3 and 7(1)(a)(ii) of Essential Commodities Act, 1955. S Syed Ali and eight others have been arrested and the vehicles used for the crime have been confiscated. The agriculture department had also mooted an investigation into the shop in Sholavandan, from where the subsidised urea was purchased using fake details of farmers.
1,540 kg beedi leaves seized at Kulasekarapattinam beach
The Thoothukudi Q branch sleuths seized as many as 1,540 kg of beedi leaves at Kulasekarapattinam beach and arrested a truck driver in the wee hours on Wednesday. Sources said that the sleuths intercepted a speeding cargo truck and found several bundles of beedi leaves inside. The driver, Prakash of Manaparai, has been detained for further investigation, said sources.