Dimapur, Jan. 7 (EMN): On the night of Jan. 6 the Dimapur police reportedly “busted a multi-crore racket of fruits mixed with chemical known as Calcium Carbide (CaC2)” from New Market and arrested three persons.
An update from the Dimapur police authorities on Sun. informed that a team of enforcement led by the ACP of ‘A’ division ‘busted’ said racket and arrested one person identified as Laxmi Sha at around 7 pm, Jan. 6.
“...and recovered / seized huge quantities of bananas along with 3 kg (approx) of Calcium Carbide (CaC2) from his shop. The arrested accused stated that a ½ kg of Calcium Carbide (CaC2) can ripen 3 quintals of unripe bananas and all the fruit traders in Dimapur use this chemical to artificially ripen the fruit like mango, watermelon, apple, banana etc, which is sold to their customers who purchase and consume it without knowing its harmful effects,” it stated.
Citing ‘scientific report,’ it stated that ‘this chemical contains arsenic phosphorous and acetylene gas which makes the healthy fruit poisonous’. Following the arrest of Sha, the police conducted more raids inside the marketplace and arrested two ‘associates’ namely Baiju Sha and Rajesh Mahdo.
“The seized Calcium Carbide (CaC2) which is suspected to have procured from Bhutan and the adulterated bananas is being sent to forensic lab for chemical analysis and obtaining expert opinion. In this connection a case has been registered at Dimapur east police station and further investigation is on,” it informed.
