Fake pesticides seized in Moga, two arrested
Tribune News Service
Moga, September 24
In a joint operation with the police, the Agriculture Department busted a pesticide scam in Moga and recovered a few boxes containing fake pesticides. These were being sold to local dealers, who were likely to sell them to farmers.
Plant Protection Officer of Moga Jaswinder Singh Brar said he, along with DSP (City) GS Bhullar and other officials of the police, stopped an i-20 car and found boxes of various types of fake pesticides in them.
“The stocks of fake pesticides have been taken into custody by the police while samples have been collected by the department for laboratory testing,” he said. Two youths, identified as Vikas Sharma and Ekdeep Singh, both residents of Ludhiana, were arrested by the police.
As per information, some boxes of fake pesticides with the brand name of ‘chess’ were recovered by the police. The product is actually marketed by a multinational pesticide company with manufacturing outsourced from a Mohali-based industry.
Another product seized by the police was ‘coragen’, an anthranilic diamide insecticide in the form of a suspension concentrate. It is particularly active on lepidopteran insect pests, primarily used as a larvicide.
They also seized ‘gusto-71’, an ammonium salt of glyphosate; ‘commando’, a rodenticide having zinc phosphide; ‘cogent’, an insect controller and ‘rounder’, another pesticide having ammonium salt of glyphosate. Balwinder Singh, District Agriculture Officer, said the police had registered an FIR under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 29 of the Insecticides Act, 1968, at the City-II police station against the youths and begun an investigation.
Sub-Inspector Gurbax Singh said the police produced the accused before a local court, which sent them to police custody for five days. They had failed to produce the permits and bills with regard to these products, he said.
District Magistrate Sandeep Hans directed the investigating agencies to find out where the counterfeit products were manufactured and brought here for sale. Meanwhile, the youths told the police that the material was brought from Indira Market in Delhi for sale.
