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Spurious seed scam: SIT takes over probe; accused sent to police remand in Ludhiana
LIP chief Simarjit Singh Bins has demanded a cap on the prices of paddy seed to check exploitation of farmers
The state-level special investigation team (SIT), constituted by director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta on Tuesday, visited the city on Wednesday to probe the spurious paddy seed scam case.
The team was formed after the arrest of Jagraon-based farmer Baljinder Singh Bhundri, one of the key members of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Kisan Club, and allegedly involved in the scam.
The SIT, headed by ADGP, Punjab Bureau of Investigation (PBI) & State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) Naresh Arora, and comprising IGP crime Nageshwar Rao, city police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal, joint director agriculture Sukhdev Singh and Ludhiana DCP (law & order) Ashwani Kapoor, held a meeting and reportedly discussed the progress made in the case by chief agricultural officer Narinder Singh Benipal.
“The SIT was here to investigate the matter. The team took the status report of the case. That is all, I can say about the meeting,” said Benipal.
Meanwhile, Harwinder Singh Kaka Brar and his aide Baljinder Singh Bhundri from Jagraon, were produced before the court and were sent to two-day police remand for further investigating the matter.
Sources said later, during the day, the SIT grilled both the accused separately.
While the main accused, Kaka Brar, was arrested on May 31, Bhudri was arrested on Tuesday.
Both the accused have been booked under sections 3, 8 and 9 of the Seed Control Order Act, sections 2, 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Lok Insaaf Party chief Simarjit Singh has demanded a cap on the prices of seed to end the exploitation of farmers.
He said the seed dealers took advantage of the emergency situation in the state and sold the spurious seed at thrice the price. He demanded a stringent action against the accused.
