Third arrested in Punjab seed scam

The Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested another person accused of supplying spurious and uncertified seeds to farmers.

It is the third arrest in the alleged seed scam highlighted by the Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal.

Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lucky Dhillon, owner of Karnal Agri Seeds in Dera Baba Nanak, was arrested by a special investigation team (SIT), said Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta in a statement here.

Gupta said Lucky Dhillon had made unauthorised purchase of PR-128 and PR-129 seed varieties from some farmers who had been given these on a trial basis by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Investigation revealed that Dhillon had allegedly supplied these seeds to Brar Seeds of Ludhiana, whose owner Harwinder Singh, alias Kaka Brar, was the first person to be apprehended in the scam.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia had earlier alleged that Lucky Dhillon was a close associate of cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

Majithia had alleged that Dhillon was allegedly involved in supplying "spurious" paddy seeds which were not approved for sale by Punjab Agricultural University.

Randhawa had denied the charge, saying his name was being dragged into the issue to gain cheap political mileage .

The SAD on Monday had claimed that farmers were likely to have suffered a loss of Rs 4,000 crore because of the supply of spurious and uncertified paddy seeds.

Meanwhile, officials said Kaka Brar and the second accused, Baljinder Singh, alias Ballian, have been remanded in two day police custody.

The DGP said the SIT had sought the remand of the accused from the court on Wednesday to further investigate the case and identify others involved in the scam.