A messenger in the Department of Agriculture who has busted many fake seeds, fertilizer and pesticide gangs has now emerged an unlikely whistle blower.
Blessed with uncanny olfactory senses, 55-year-old A. Anjaneyulu can sniff spurious seed stock or fake fertilizers and pesticides from a distance of 50 metres. He has been relentless in his mission to weed out the “corrupt” elements both within the department and outside it for the last three decades.
Just last Saturday, he helped the district administration bust a fake bio-chemical fertilizer unit and seize stocks worth ₹1 crore. The stocks were kept in a tobacco godown.
District Collector Kona Sasidhar directed the raids at the godown on Lachester Road after receiving a phone call from this man.
A team led by Joint Collector Kritika Shukla seized the stock and records which were found to be in the name of Rama Rao from Vinukonda. A case has been registered at the Lalapet police station.
Over the last three decades, Mr. Anjaneyulu has busted many fake rackets involving the illicit manufacture of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides in and around the district.
“I am moved by the stories of farmer suicides. I am convinced that most of them decide to take their lives after suffering losses from using spurious seeds and pesticides. It is my life's mission to weed out the fakes,” Mr. Anjaneyulu told The Hindu .
Recollecting the series of suicides of cotton and chilli farmers in the district over the last three years, he said many who took their lives had been cheated by companies selling fake seeds and other farm inputs.
Mr. Anjaneyulu joined the agriculture department in 1984 and was deputed to the vigilance wing in 1987. It was during the tenure of Jeevananda Sharma, the then Regional Vigilance and Enforcement Officer, that he developed the ability to sniff fake pesticides and seeds.
‘God’s gift’
“It is God’s gift as I can detect the fake stocks from a distance. I have helped bust fake stocks worth nearly ₹.2.5 crore till now,” he said.
But the man who has emerged a whistle blower has been derided by his own department as some of his exploits have exposed the links between officials and traders.
For now, he is determined to continue his mission.
