Trader held in cheating case

Coimbatore: The district crime branch (DCB) police arrested a Hyderabad-based copra trader on Friday in connection with a cheating case. Police identified the arrested man as Bajrang Lal Batti, 43, from Begum Bazaar in Hyderabad. He was one of the nine accused in the case, in which 22 farmers were not paid 1.46 crore for their produce.
Police said the 22 farmers from in and around Gomangalam in the district sent 12 loads of copra (each containing 16 tonnes) to K Premanand, of Gomangalam, a coconut drying yard owner, in 2018. Premanand used to sell copra loads to agents, who would send them to traders in Hyderabad, and pay farmers after receiving the payment from the buyers.
“After drying off the 12 loads of copra, Premanand handed them over to agents Narayanasamy and Sivakumar in February 2018. The agents promised to pay 2.18 crore for the shipment and gave 72 lakh when receiving it. But they failed to pay the remaining amount,” a police officer said. TNN