Hyderabad Arrests Traders for Illegal Mango Ripening

Hyderabad police and municipal authorities have arrested at least two wholesale fruit traders for using excessive illegal ripening agents on mangoes, as the summer fruit begins flooding local markets. The crackdown, which intensified over April 3 to 5, targets the artificial ripening of mangoes sourced mainly from Andhra Pradesh, aiming to curb health risks to consumers.

In one incident, Goshamahal police raided a room near Balkishan Mandir in Chudi Bazar on April 3, arresting Nikabvala Kunal, a fruit trader from the Puranapool area. Officers seized four packets and 25 loose sachets of Diamond Ripe Ethylene, a chemical ripener used beyond Food Safety and Standards Authority of India guidelines. The norms allow only five sachets for 20 kilograms of mangoes, but Kunal allegedly applied six. Authorities also confiscated nearly seven tonnes of suspected chemically treated mangoes. Samples from the seizure have been sent for laboratory testing. A case was registered against him under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Essential Commodities Act, and Telangana Scheduled Commodities, Foodstuffs and Levy of Fees Rules of 2016.

The Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team, known as HFAST,...