The police and the administration of Malda district have busted a racket where members illegally selling paddy brought from the neighbouring state of Bihar to the Bengal government.
Hence, genuine farmers of the district were deprived of selling their produce to the government for the minimum support price.

Four persons were recently arrested from Chanchal police station area in this connection.

Sources said members of the racket appeared to have hacked cell phones and bank accounts of bona fide farmers in Malda, especially Harishchandrapur that shares borders with Bihar.

The issue first came into light when some farmers of Harishchandrapur received text messages that said they had successfully sold a certain quantity of paddy to the state government through the procurements centre (kishan mandi) and would get the minimum support price.

However, the farmers had neither sold paddy nor received money in their bank accounts.

“We were surprised by the text messages,” said Mohammad Malek, a farmer living at Mahendrapur village under Harishchandrapur police station.

Added another farmer: "I received a message that I sold 25 quintals of paddy for Rs 49,000 although I had not.”
Farmers informed the police who in turn initiated a probe.

Police found out that members of a racket were bringing paddy from Bihar and selling those in the kishan mandis by impersonating the farmers of Bengal — using their names and cell phones.

“Farmers received the text messages but no money. It is being suspected that members of the racket hacked their phones and bank accounts and rerouted the money to their own accounts,” said a police source.

Police have seized ATM cards, bank passbooks and cell phones from the four arrested in this case.

“We suspect they opened savings accounts in local banks and did not use bank details of Bihar to avoid any doubt. Probe is on,” a source said.

A senior official in the state food and supplies department that procures the paddy from farmers said if a farmer wants to sell paddy to the government, he should sell it to the government of his own state, not the neighbouring state.

He said minimum support price (Rs 1,940 per quintal) is the same in Bengal and Bihar. A farmer in Bengal can sell a maximum of 45 quintals of paddy to his own state.
“In Bengal, the state sets a target of how much paddy to procure from every district. Now if people from Bihar sell their produce in Malda illegally, it is obvious local farmers will be deprived of selling their produce for the minimum support price,” said the official.

Amitabha Maiti, the district police chief of Malda, said they are trying to gather more information about the racket from the arrested quartet.

Abu Tayab Mohammad Rafikul Hossain, the sabhadhipati of Malda Zilla Parishad, said: “I asked the food and supplies department to take necessary steps. They should see if anybody in the department is involved in the racket,” said Hossain.