The Telangana police is probing the racket behind spreading the rumour about non-availability of salt, which has seen its price escalating to Rs 300 per kg from Rs 25-Rs 30 per kg only two days ago. It is believed that the rumour originated from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
On Saturday, people at several towns in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh rushed to grocery and general stores since morning and started buying salt in bulk, believing the rumour that there has been a severe scarcity of salt in the country.
The officials in the Telangana civil supplies department told this newspaper that “these rumours were spread by some vested interests to make money in the wake of the prevailing crisis like situation after the scrapping of big notes”. “We have asked the police to book cases against those who are spreading these rumours,” said an official with the department.
Since last night some people have spread the news that the country was going to face a salt shortage. This, coupled with the non-availability of smaller notes and abolition of big notes, has pushed the prices high.
In Guntur district the officials have found that the shop owners have taken advantage of the panic among people and demanded higher prices and accepted notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.