Maha: Gang which cheated farmers by manipulating weighing scale busted

Police in Maharashtra's Washim district has arrested seven persons who cheated farmers while buying agricultural produce by manipulating the weighing scale, an official said on Thursday.

The accused approached farmers posing as traders and offered to buy cotton or other produce at their doorstep, said Washim superintendent of police Bachchan Singh.

They used a rigged weighing scale and its reading was manipulated by a remote control device operated by one of them, the SP said.

Malegaon police in the district started a probe after Pravin Solnore, resident of Meedshi, lodged a complaint.

''The complainant had 4.23 quintals of cotton for sale, but the reading on the weighing scale showed only 1.74 quintal, 60 per cent less than the actual quantity,'' the official said.

On Wednesday, police arrested Mohammad Mosin Mohammad Hussain, Shaikh Anis Shaikh Yusuf, Shakeel alias Chotu Hussain Shah, Maqsud Khan Mehmood Khan, Shahbaz Khan Izaz Khan, Shahzad Khan Mehmud Khan and Ashik Khan Jaforrllah Khan, all residents of Barsitakli in Akola district. The accused were produced before a court which sent them in three days' police custody. ''We appeal farmers to approach police if they have been the victims of such cheating," SP Singh said.