A team of officials from the Vigilance Department, Karimnagar, conducted inquiries in the Adilabad Agriculture Market yard in order to ascertain the reasons for farmers not selling cotton to Cotton Corporation of India though the market rate of the commercial crop was falling below the minimum support price of ₹ 5,450.

The CCI was making purchases in the market at the MSP as per the inherent regulations with regard to moisture content.

The team consisted of two officials of inspector of police rank who interacted with the farmers asking them for reasons. They, however, did not wish to be identified and said they will submit a report after the exercise to their department.

It may be stated here that the price of cotton has been falling consistently in markets across the district. It had fallen from ₹ 5,130 per quintal on Tuesday to ₹ 5,115 on Wednesday in Adilabad market.

The Vigilance officials also inquired about the role of middlemen in the trading process. Apparently suspecting that many of those who brought the produce to the market were not bonafide farmers, they asked some of them for documents supporting their identity.

The officials also identified vehicles with Maharashtra registration plates and isolated them so that they could carry out their inquiries. They were wary of the fact that middlemen and other outsiders were purchasing cotton for low price and selling it off at a higher price in the market.