In a major operation, sleuths of the Police Commissioner’s Task Force (CTF) busted a spurious pesticide manufacturing and selling racket, which was deceiving farmers, and seized stocks worth about ₹4.5 crore.

The accused, all natives of Guntur district, were allegedly preparing the spurious products by using some raw material and were marketing the stocks on the pretext of a noted pesticide manufacturing company.

The gang was manufacturing the labels and procuring the raw material from Hyderabad and Guntur, and was selling the pesticides in different States, said Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu.

Disclosing this to the newsmen here on Tuesday, the Commissioner said the accused Nagularam Ramu was working as clerk, and Lakshminarayana was working as godown manager of Syngenta Agro Chemicals Private Limited, at Guntur.

They were allegedly manufacturing the spurious pesticides by using some plant growth promoters, chemicals and other raw materials in a godown at Auto Nagar in Guntur. They were allegedly procuring the raw material from from a person, staying at L.B. Nagar in Hyderabad.

The gang was manufacturing plastic tins, bottles and caps from Fortune Home Care Industrial, owned by one G. Venkata Shiva Ramakrishna Anand Kumar, of Guntur. Fake labels on the name of Syngenta company were being printed by Abdul Kareem in Hyderabad.

The modus operandi of the accused was to collect outdated stocks and damaged bottles from the dealers, fill them with fake products and sell them on the pretext of the original company products, Mr. Srinivasulu said.

Six products

CTF Additional DCP K.V. Srinivasa Rao said the gang was manufacturing six products in the name of original company and were selling them in the market. They sold the spurious products to many agriculture and horticulture farmers, Mr. Rao said.

“Two sales promoters, Kotari Nageswara Rao and K. Praveen Kumar, of the gang were arrested. We are trying to find out whether any others are involved in the racket,” the Police Commissioner said.