In a significant crackdown on illegal industrial activities, a police complaint has been filed against several industries in the Surat district for illegally using government-subsidized semi-coated urea fertilizer intended for agricultural use.
The investigation was led by Vivek Maitalia, Agriculture Officer of Palsana Tehsil in Surat district, who, along with his team, conducted a surprise visit to Raghukul Prints Pvt. Ltd. on September 28, 2022. Upon inspection, the team found bags of technical-grade urea concealed among various other bags.
The discovery raised suspicion, leading to further questioning of Prabhunath Singh, the person present at the scene. Singh revealed that the suspicious urea quantity had been purchased from Maruthi Chemical and Tirupati Balaji Industries Kadodara.
The officers on-site drew samples from 18 bags, each weighing 50 kg, and sent them to the Fertilizer Testing Laboratory at Bardoli. Tests performed on October 5, 2022, found that the neem oil content in the samples was only 0.035 percent, confirming the illegal use of the fertilizer.
Notices were subsequently served on Shree Radhukul Tax Prints Pvt Ltd, Shree Maruthi Chemical, and Tirupati Balaji Industrial Estate. These industries claimed to have purchased the urea from Sai Chemical and requested re-examination of the samples. Further verification in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, corroborated the initial findings.
On August 18, 2023, Agriculture Officer Metalia lodged a complaint at Palsana Police Station, highlighting the illegal industrial consumption and supply of government-subsidized semi-coated urea fertilizer by various industries in collusion with each other.
The complaint names Raghukul Taxprints Pvt. Ltd., Maruti Chemical of Kadodara, Gopal Balaprasad Pert of Shri Tirupati Balaji Industrial Estate, Bhupendra Harilal Gandhi of Shri Sai Chemicals, and Rana Industrial of Udhna area, who all allegedly supplied the illegal fertilizer.
The incident has exposed a serious breach of trust and legal regulations, sparking concerns over the potential misuse of government-subsidized resources. It remains to be seen how the legal proceedings will unfold and what measures will be taken to prevent such fraudulent activities in the future.
