Seed scam: Punjab Police nab Ludhiana firm owner, seal store

The owner was found selling spurious seeds to farmers at exorbitant rates

LUDHIANA: The Punjab Police on Sunday busted the alleged paddy seed scam with the arrest of a private firm owner found selling spurious seeds to farmers at exorbitant rates here.

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Confirming the development, chief agriculture officer Narinder Singh Benipal said, “The store was selling seeds at inflated rates by branding them as high-yielding varieties PR-128 and PR-129. The store owner’s licence has been cancelled.”

Benipal added that raids were also conducted at other seed stores near Panjab Agriculture University on Sunday.

Ludhiana-based Brar Seeds owner Harwinder Singh alias Kaka Brar (56) is being questioned by a special investigation team (SIT) of the Ludhiana Police, officials said.

The probe is expected to lead more arrests in the case, said director general of police Dinkar Gupta.

Ludhiana police commissioner Rakesh Kumar Agrawal said that during raids by the SIT, huge stock of seeds was seized from Brar’s store, and the samples were sent for testing. Their analysis confirmed that some of the seeds were spurious, said Aggarwal.

Brar used to sell these to farmers on the pretext that the seeds were of some newly developed varieties which were yet to be certified by the government.