Farm Fraud: Traders Run Away with Crop Worth Over Rs 3 Crore in MP

Bhopal: Even as the new farm laws are being implemented, many cases of farmers being defrauded are emerging in Madhya Pradesh. In the latest incident, farmers from the state Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home districts--Harda and Sehore, respectively--were cheated by traders.

In one of the biggest cases of farm fraud, around 150 farmers from Harda, Dewas, Sehore and Hoshangabad districts were cheated by Khoja traders -- Pawan Khoja and Suresh Khoja. They ran away with a farm crop worth more than Rs 3-4 crore.

In a written complaint to the sub-divisional magistrate of Dewas, 22 farmers from the four districts alleged that two traders from Khoja community purchased 2,581 quintals of produce showing their license registered at a mandi in Dewas and gave the farmers cheques while picking up their produce. The farmers learnt of the bluff after the cheque bounced and their calls to the Khoja brothers went unanswered.

The group of 22 farmers from these four districts have also submitted a complaint to the sub-divisional magistrate of Khategaon tehsil.

Kanhaiya Patel, a farmer who was cheated of 22.5 lakhs by Suresh Khoja said that the traders had assured him the payment in two days through RTGS but the money did not come. "When we called the traders, they made excuses and then stopped responding. We reached the SDM in Khategaon where the trader had shown his license to be registered at a mandi and learnt that it was fake," said Patel.

They cheated hundreds of farmers in all and ran away with produce worth crores. The farmers then approached the police and now, they are all set to write to the Collector, Harda.

Another farmer, Sohan Jat claimed that nearly 200 farmers of Harda were cheated by the traders.

Before these farmers were cheated in Harda, 61 farmers were also subjected to fraud in Hoshangabad, 71 in Seoni, 24 in Gwalior, 13 in Guna, eight in Balaghat and one each in Barwani and Jabalpur districts. Of these, only three case have seen solved.

When contacted, Dewas Collector Chandramouli Shukla said, "A team with officials and police have been formed to look for the traders. Law will take its course."