Behrampore, March 26: A milk co-operative managing director has been suspended for selling milk to Amul instead of the government dairy that offers a much lesser price.

Paritosh Sarkar said he had done no wrong as the health of the Bhagirathi Co-operative Mil Producers’ Union was foremost in his mind. “Amul is paying Rs 15.55 a litre. Mother Dairy would have paid Rs 13.3 a litre,” he said.

The co-operative as well as the farmers selling milk to it will earn more from the arrangement, he argued.

Bhagirathi, the largest state-owned milk co-operative in the district, is profit-making. So long, it had only sold milk to Mother Dairy, run by a milk producers’ federation chaired by animal resource development minister Anisur Rahman.

Amul, which started selling milk in Bengal three years ago, now sells about 2 lakh litres a day, 1.5 lakh lakh litres less than Mother Dairy.

Amul has a processing plant near Dankuni, in Hooghly.

“The MD can’t sell milk to any private dairy without the permission of the chairman of the West Bengal Co-operative Milk Producers Federation (read Rahman),” said district magistrate Subir Bhadra, also the chairman of the Murshidabad co-operative. “I have sus- pended him for not following the rules and asked the Behrampore subdivisional officer to take charge.”

Sarkar said: “If the DM wants to suspend me, he has to call a board meeting.”

The minister had no doubt that Sarkar was at fault. “He cannot sell milk to whoever he wants,” Rahman said.

Bypass crash

Three youths on a motorcycle were seriously injured in a crash on EM Bypass late tonight. A matador van hit them near Hiland Park.