Jammu: Demanding the transfer of investigations in the infamous foodgrains scam of R.S Pura to Crime Branch and confiscation of the property of absconding businessmen who played fraud with the poor farmers, Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP today lambasted the local administration for their indifference and disregard for apprehending the culprits involved in the massive fraud of gargantuan proportions involving poor border area agriculturalists. He was addressing a press conference in Jammu today.
Addressing the media persons, Harsh Dev Singh said that the poor farmers of R.S Pura, Suchetgarh, Ramgarh, Bishnah and Akhnoor had been robbed of their produce by a well knit mafia which needed to be busted at the earliest. He said that despite the continued protests by aggrieved farmers seeking justice, no action had been taken by the administration. He said that farmers claimed to have been robbed of their foodgrains worth over hundred crores but the police administration had failed to apprehend the culprits.
“Not only the case required to be handed over to Crime Branch as desired by the aggrieved farmers but the culprits needed to be declared as proclaimed offenders”, urged Singh as he sought confiscation and seizure of the property of the fraudsters and its disposal so as to satisfy the claims of agitating farmers.
He regretted that despite assurance of the Divisional Commissioner Jammu made to the delegation of affected farmers last month to hand over investigations to Crime Branch, no action had been initiated thus creating huge resentment amongst the affected farmers. He cautioned to gherao the Civil and Police administration in case the investigations through CB were not initiated immediately and absconding culprits apprehended and brought to book at the earliest.
Paramjit and Harbhajan Singh representatives of the aggrieved farmers revealed that “the said offenders have been running their firms under the name and style of M/S Ashoka Traders International Cattle Feed through proprietor Sonu Gupta S/o Niranjan Dass Gupta and M/S Rakesh Rice Mill, Pindi Sarochan Tehsil R.S Pura, District Jammu. The said firms collected Paddy and wheat from hundreds of farmers on the assurance that they would be paid remunerative prices for their produce. Farmers of various villages of the aforesaid Tehsils deposited their produce with them only to discover at a later stage that they had been cheated. The said businessmen had not only failed to pay the price of the foodgrains but the main accused had absconded and their whereabouts were not known. It is being reported that these offenders had left the country as well which needed due attention of authorities concerned”.
The non seriousness of the local administration has sparked massive outrage in the affected village which could take an ugly turn in case the govt did not act proportionally”.
