Some vegetable sellers allegedly abused officials of the agriculture marketing department who were selling potatoes at a cheaper government rate near Amin Bazar market in Krishnagar town, Nadia, on Saturday morning.

Vegetables sellers forced officials, who along with members of a self-help group had set up a mobile stall to sell potatoes at Rs 25 a kilo, to leave the spot. The market rate of potatoes is Rs 40 a kilo.

Subdivisional officer of Krishnagar (sadar) Manish Varma said: “This is most unfortunate. We are looking into it, and will take strict action.”

“Since the Essential Commodities Act has been amended, the price of potatoes can’t be controlled anymore. Nevertheless, the state government has been trying to provide relief to the common people by selling potatoes at fixed price through mobile stalls. In such a situation, such incidents are not expected,” the SDO added.

The district administration started selling potatoes at fixed rate since last week through mobile stalls. Women from self-help groups have been engaged, along with the officials of the agricultural marketing department, in the job. A buyer can get up to 4 kilos of potatoes at fixed rate.

On Saturday’s harassment, an official of the state agricultural marketing department said: “Irresponsible behaviour of local sellers ultimately affects the common man.”

A potato seller in Krishnagar’s Amin Bazar, however, denied charges of harassment.

“I had only appealed to the officials running the mobile potato stall to do it from another location, saying our business is suffering,” he said.

On Friday, in a bid to stop hoarding and price rise, the state government issued a directive that no wholesale dealer could store more than 25MT of potatoes and onions. For small traders, the cap is 2MT.