Cashew nut cartel!

After egg, betel leaf, fish and meat, now it’s the cartel of cashew nuts that makes the fruit more dearer for common people these days.

Some sensational revelations have come out during the investigation by the Assam Times.

A part of the cartel has been remaining active in Fancy Bazar area where Shanti Lal, Manoj Moore and Sunil Bothra have already stopped the rush of cashew nuts from outside. Cashew nuts procured from Mancachar are available in the Guwahati markets these days.

The trio have been running this cartel under the patronage of a powerful circle of people in Dispur which is why, these people have been maintaining a studied silence on the allegations of this dirty deal in cashew nuts.

Its strange to note. Raw cashew nut is available at Rs 65 per 2 KG while the price of a dressed cashew nut is available at Rs 480 per kg (If 2 kg raw cashew nut are required to get 1 KG of dressed cashew nut).

The raw cashew nuts procured from Garo hills are processed in Mancachar by the industries run by Dilip Bothra and Mahesh Agarwalla.

The workers are allegedly underpaid where they get Rs 50 for processing cashew nut per kilo in addition to Rs 20 for electricity charge.

With 20 percent benefit for the traders, the cashew nuts should have been available at a price not more than Rs 250.

But the cashew nut price stands at Rs 480 per KG only because of the cartel where Mancachar MLA Javed Islam mires in controversy.

According to allegation, the dissident MLA has been patronizing the entire cartel of cashew nuts with tacit support from a section of officials from the Dhubri administration.