Morung Express News
October 15
DIMAPUR: Acting on the complaints and queries from the general public as to why tomato prices had increased drastically comparing to the prices in Dimapur, the Kohima Town Committee in this regard arrested one Harindra Prasad reportedly the man responsible for monopolizing tomato business in the capital by means of intimidation and illegal arbitrary price-control practices.
According to a press release issued by Kezhokhoto Savi, Legal advisor and Vizopal Chaya, Convener KTC citizens of Kohima had started registering frequent queries and complaints at the high costs of tomatoes which were being sold at Rupees 40 per kilogram. Investigating into the matter as well as enquiring from vegetable vendors, the KTC informed that it found out that one tomato supplier by the name of Harindra Prasad was controlling the price mechanism by procuring directly from main depots and intimidating vegetable sellers into buying them as well as resorting to threat-tactics to sustain his monopoly. It was also learnt that no vegetable businessmen were allowed from procuring tomatoes for Kohima from Dimapur.
In this connection Councilors of the KMC inspected the KMC market areas and Sokrozie market (T Khel market) and in the process detected an illegal pricing mechanism totally controlled by Prasad, the evidence for the illegal activity having proven by his being caught red-handed with a Tata truck containing 475 crates of tomatoes, the release stated. Furthermore, on interviewing vegetable vendors at both the Super Market and Sokrozie Market, the KMC found that Prasad had been controlling the tomato business in Kohima for the last five months by threatening vegetable vendors and forcing them to buy from him at exorbitant rates. Citing several incidences that the accused also used to forcibly seize vegetables from vendors and even beating them up if they did not procure tomatoes from him alone, the KMC stated that vendors had also disclosed that there was a person in Dimapur going by the name of Akhtar who collected illegal taxes from Dimapur vendors.
Informing that Prasad had been handed over to the police, the KMC also observed that tomatoes were being procured at the rate of Rupees 5 per kilogram from Siliguri .The Consumer Society Dimapur (CSD) had also registered complaints that there was a “scam” going on in Kohima, it stated.
Meanwhile, the KMC has directed that tomatoes should be sold at the rate of Rupees 25 per kilogram with immediate effect from October 15 2005 while adding that vegetable vendors are still getting reasonable profits by selling at the rate of rupees 25 per kilogram provided they are not controlled by Harindra Prasad.
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