Cheating: Apple growers want CID to handle case

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 23

Peeved over the indifferent attitude of the police, apple growers cheated by commission agents to the tune of Rs 4.20 crore have urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to handover the case to the CID or crime branch for the recovery of money.

In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister, the growers said they had sold apple to some commission agents through local businessmen at Parala Subzi Mandi in the Kotkhai area but they did not get the money and even after five months, no tangible result had come out.

The agents issued cheques, but these bounced. Two traders Virendra Singh Dhanta and Madan Sharma also lodged a complaint at the Theog Police station and an FIR was registered, but no action was taken.

Sources said commission agents who purchased apple and were now refusing to make the payment were from Delhi, Gobindgarh and Chennai mandis. The complaint said one of the accused agents was even nabbed by them from Amritsar and handed over to the police, but no action was taken against him even after five days. The growers urged the Chief Minister to take stringent action for the recovery of their money.