Week after FIR, no arrest in pesticide scam

Tribune News Service

Moga, April 17

A week after the registration of an FIR in the pesticide scam, the Moga police have failed to arrest main alleged accused Gurwinder Singh, proprietor of the Nambardar Kheti Store, Badduwal (Moga), from whom spurious pesticide bottles were recovered by the Agriculture Department.

The local police officials claimed that the raids were conducted at his house, but he was absconding and his whereabouts could not be known from his family members.

An FIR under Section 420 of the IPC and Sections 3K-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 13 read with rule 10 (4), 17, 18, 29 and 33 of the Insecticides Act, 1968, and Sections 19 and 20 of the Insecticides Rules, 1971, was registered on April 10.

The Agriculture Department recovered spurious bottles of “Fame”, a costly pesticide commonly used on various crops. The cost of 100 ml of “Fame” bottle is Rs 929. The stickers pasted on these pesticide bottles mentioned that they were manufactured at Saraswati Agro Chemicals India Private Limited, Dera Bassi (Punjab). This product is marketed by Bayer Crop Science Limited.

The Punjab Government has imposed a total ban on the sale of all products manufactured by Saraswati Agro Chemicals.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Agriculture Department Dr Kahan Singh Pannu said he had instructed senior authorities of the department to minutely check the Punjab Pesticide Industrial Cooperative Society Limited, Kharar (Mohali district), which is also a sister concern of Saraswati Company.