Four retailers have been arrested in Nagaland for selling chemically-ripened fruits to unsuspecting consumers, police said on Monday.
The seized fruits, including bananas, oranges, apples and grapes, have been sent for forensic analysis, a police source said.
The Sunday raid took place on Sunday in Dimapur.
A similar exercise took place in Manipur a few months back when police raided some fruit shops on charges of selling chemically-ripened fruits.
Forensic scientist L. Fimate told IANS that fruit sellers use chemicals like calcium carbide, arsenic phosphorus and acetylene gas to ripen the fruits artificially.
A fruit seller said green fruits can be ripened in one or two hours by spraying chemicals. Another method is to inject chemicals into the fruits using medical syringes.
--IANS
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