•No one selling fake or expired agri-inputs to farmers will be spared: Gurmeet Singh Khudian
•Bhagwant Mann Govt will investigate entire supply chain behind spurious agri-inputs: Gurmeet Singh Khudian
•We will not stop at this raid, every link in this fake fertiliser network will be probed: Gurmeet Singh Khudian
CHANDIGARH, May 7:
In a major crackdown on spurious agricultural inputs, the Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department raided a residential property in Faridkot and unearthed an illegal fertiliser and pesticide packaging unit operating without any licence or permission. An FIR has been registered against Rajinder Sethi, the owner of the property where illegal & expired agri-inputs were recovered, at City Police Station, Faridkot, on Thursday.
Sharing the details, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian stated, “Acting on reliable inputs, a team of the Agriculture Department conducted a raid at House No. 87, Street No. 2, Narain Nagar, Faridkot, in the presence of the local police. The owner of the premises has been identified as Rajinder Sethi, who was running an illegal fertiliser and pesticide packaging unit. He was reportedly sourcing agriculture inputs from M/s Amravati Agro Corp., Nalagarh, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, which is now under the department’s scanner.”
Further investigations revealed that Rajinder Sethi’s retail fertiliser licence for Faridkot district had expired, yet commercial activity was being carried out in violation of the Fertiliser Control Order, 1985, he added.
The minister added, “The Agriculture Department team collected 18 fertiliser samples from the premises for laboratory testing. Additionally, two batches of expired fertiliser and eight expired pesticides were found at the site. However, formal samples of the expired stock were not drawn as the products were visibly degraded, unusable and in clear violation of shelf-life norms. “
The team also discovered that Rajinder Sethi was operating an illegal packaging unit from his residence without any statutory approval or licence. During the raid, unmarked and open bags containing suspected spurious fertiliser were recovered, along with sewing and sealing equipment used for illegal repackaging.
On the complaint for Agriculture Department team, the Faridkot police has registered an FIR against Rajinder Sethi under BNS 2023 Under Section 318(4) and 61 (2); Sections 7 and 8 of the Fertiliser Control Order (FCO), 1985; Sections 3(2)(d) and 7 of the Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955; Sections 13, 17, 18, 23, 29 and 33 of the Insecticides Act, 1968; and Rules 10, 12, 15 and 36 of the Insecticides Rules, 1971.
Urging farmers across the state to report any suspicious fertiliser or pesticide outlets to the department, Gurmeet Singh Khudian said, “This is a clear case of criminal negligence and deliberate cheating with farmers. Operating an illegal packaging unit from a residential area, storing expired pesticides and running the business without a valid licence is unforgivable. We will not stop at this raid. The Bhagwant Mann Government will investigate the entire supply chain, including the Himachal Pradesh-based form. No one involved in selling spurious or expired agri-inputs to Punjab’s farmers will be spared.”
