4 caught while applying colours on vegetables

Kolkata: Four persons were arrested from a market at Titagarh in North 24-Parganas on Sunday morning on charges of adding colours to vegetables.

Police said the accused were local traders in the market and were caught red-handed applying colours to vegetables to make them look fresh.

Officers of the Enforcement Branch and Titagarh police station conducted a raid at Talpukur Market in Titagarh. The police conducted the raid acting on a tip-off.

They found the traders pouring sweet potato in coloured water to make it look more red and can be sold at a premium. They were also using brick dust or soil on potatoes so that it looks fresh and can be easily sold out. The police arrested all four of them and seized a huge quantity of vegetables on which colour was being used. The Talpukur Market was packed with people on Sunday morning when the raid was conducted and police found that the traders were openly adding colours on vegetables in front of everyone. Some people, who went to the market to buy vegetables, had even protested against such act. But the protest fell on deaf ears.

The police have also directed all the traders in the market not to use colours on vegetables or other edible products. It may be mentioned that the state government has taken a series of steps to check such practice. According to an official, use of brick dust or soil on potatoes gives the staple food a look of superior quality. In a bid to check the menace, officials of the agriculture marketing department had conducted repeated raids in cold-storages in Hooghly.