Fertiliser
2 agri officials among 4 held for cheating farmers
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police in a joint raid conducted at a warehouse at Jalalpur here yesterday arrested four people including two agriculture officials for cheating farmers in weight and taking excess price from them during selling fertiliser.
The arrestees are Sakil Ahmed, an employee of fertiliser dealer Abdul Gani Bihari, his worker Abdul Hannan and Md Saifur Rahman Osmani and Ahmed Ali, both sub-assistant officers (SAOs) of Pabna Agriculture Office, police said.
The two dealer shop employees were selling fertiliser to farmers taking excess price and giving less fertiliser to them in weight in presence of the agriculture officials, police said.
They were realising an excess amount between Tk 300-400 from each bag of fertiliser, said Pabna Police Station officer-in-charge Iqbal Shafi. The culprits were selling a bag of TSP at Tk 1,800 while the official rate was Tk 1,400, he said. A bag of MOP fertiliser was being sold illegally at Tk 1,485 while the official rate was Tk 1,130, he said. Moreover, each bag of fertiliser contained 8 to 9 kilogram less fertiliser than its actual weight, he added.
Police also seized 167 bags of fertiliser from the warehouse which was sealed off later on in presence of Pabna Sadar upazila nirbahi officer Md Abdul Hakim, police said.
While talking, Pabna Sadar upazila agriculture officer Md Monjur Hossain said they visited the spot. 'Steps will be taken against the arrestees including the fertiliser dealer,' he said.
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