Ahmedabad/Rajkot: The allegations of malpractices in procurement of groundnut at minimum support price (MSP) seem to be coming true.
The investigation by state CID (crime) in the May 5 groundnut warehouse fire in Shapar-Veraval on Rajkot’s outskirts, which gutted nearly 28,000 bags (each weighing 35kg each), has revealed that a huge quantity of mud, husk and pebbles were mixed with groundnuts procured at MSP.
Top sources in the agency told TOI that two bags contained as much as 10kg mud, something which is extremely unusual in case of the groundnut crop. “On an average, other bags contained 3kg to 5kg mud. In all, we checked 24 bags. An inquest was done in presence of 11 persons including scientists of Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) and top police officials after the mud was found,” said an official.
This reveals that the quality of groundnut being purchased by the state government at Rs 900 per 20kg is not up to the mark. However, this is no surprise as the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), the government-designated agency for procurement, had earlier too stopped buying groundnut at MSP in Junagadh following complaints of massive irregularities.
Officials said that unlike the Gondal warehouse fire, which destroyed groundnut worth Rs 35 crore, in Shapar-Veraval they were able to take samples from 1,200 bags that were not gutted. In Gondal, there was little possibility of ascertaining the quality of groundnut as the entire stock was charred.
Though CID officials claim that sparks from the welding work on May 5 at the warehouse caused the blaze, the theory needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. There are many reasons why senior officials suspect a mischief. “On May 5, the aluminum sheets covering the warehouse got loose because of strong winds. Iron girders were placed to carry out repair work with the help of a tractor attached to a crane and a welding machine.
“The welder saw smoke emanating from beneath the godown and raised an alarm. Immediately, all those present there, including warehouse owner Narendra Patel, fled from there. They also hid the tractor, crane and the welding equipment. Patel had also called up some person saying that they could be in a soup, referring to the Gondal incident,” a top official told TOI.
“What was the need to escape from the spot and hide all the equipment? This raises some kind of suspicion whether it was accidental or deliberate,” the official said.
CID crime is awaiting the report from JAU and forensic science laboratory (FSL) regarding the quality of groundnuts. The report is expected next week. “We will be sharing the report on groundnut quality with the government and then decide on the further course of action,” he said.
Sources also claimed that there was no electricity connection in the warehouse but a team of PGVCL has found that an illegal electricity connection was taken from the nearby warehouse. Four of the total eight shades were gutted.
CID to lodge offence against warehouse owner, others
Ahmedabad: CID crime will register an offence against all those present at the warehouse under Section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy) of the Indian Penal Code. These include Gujarat Warehouse owner Narendar Pansariya, its manager Jitendra Dudhani, employee Suresh Chhapariya and others.