Gali Jayapal, a farmer from Anikepalle village in Venkatachalam Tehsil of Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh, has been arrested by police for having raised a food grains scam. The whistle-blower farmer had lodged a complaint with the district collector, alleging a scam in paddy procurement. In what could be called weird the farmer’s name has been involved with Rs 8 lakh payment cleared in his name.
What exactly happened?
Jayapal who owns three acres of paddy fields was unsuccessful having tried his best to sell eight puttus of yield to local government representatives. A puttu is equivalent to 6.75 quintals. Now, two middlemen who approached the farmer agreed to purchase the yield at a rate of Rs 10,100 per puttu. The middlemen who were localites assured Jayapal that the payment would be credited directly to his bank account, having noted his Aadhaar and Bank A/c details. However, they told the farmer that an extra payment would be made, and that needs to be withdrawn by him and given in cash.
Later, when Jayapal understood that the middlemen would now sell his yield to the government at a price of Rs 15,600 per puttu, he decided to buy back his yield and pay the middlemen their commission of Rs 5,500 per puttu. Now, Jayapal didn’t register his details as mandated by the government in the e-crop portal for selling yield and to his surprise on the public domain, he found that wrong details were entered mentioning that he had sold 50 puttus in 18 acres of land.
On October 22rd, Jayapal’s sons alleging a scam in paddy procurement filed a complaint to the District Magistrate and in the SP office, adding that the survey numbers cited in the records were that off uncultivable lands.
Why did the police arrest Jayapal?
A day after Jayapal’s sons filed a complaint, the farmer nabbed by the police and taken to the police station. The SI told Jayapal that the middlemen against whom the complaint was filed were respectable people and that he was held for carrying out false propaganda against them. The police also told that no official complaint has been filed against Jayapal, but only wanted to know with what evidence the complaints were filed.
On the other hand, the District Magistrate is yet to look into the case. While Jayapal has demanded action against the police personnel for treating him like a criminal.
