Calcutta, Oct. 16  :    Calcutta, Oct. 16 :  The government on Tuesday issued a warning to traders hoarding potatoes and onions, leading to a sharp rise in market prices. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday directed the police and the agricultural marketing department to conduct raids against hoarders and cold storage owners. Agricultural marketing minister Chhaya Ghosh said potatoes were being sold at Rs 9 a kg. 'The popular Jyoti variety is being sold at Rs 9, while Chandramukhi is Rs 8.30 a kg,'' she said. Prices have risen by Rs 4 a kg in the past week and a half. Onions are being sold at Rs 11. The department fears that prices may escalate further if immediate action is not taken. The minister directed Posta Merchants Association, the apex body of potato and onion traders, to release all items from the cold storage by November 30. 'We will seal the defaulting cold storages,'' she warned. Police commissioner Sujoy Chakraborty told Metro that the Enforcement Branch was raiding city markets. EB sources said the police had summoned Gurupada Sinha, one of the biggest distributors of potatoes in Calcutta, and Ashok Gupta, an onion distributor, and warned them of stern action if investigations found them guilty of hoarding. According to Ghosh, the state consumes 300,000 tonnes of potatoes every month, of which the city needs about 50,000 tonnes. She attributed the current crisis to three reasons: Cold storage owners are not uniformly distributing items Wholesale distributors are hoarding potatoes and onions to create an artificial crisis Sellers in the local market are also hoarding stocks Raids were conducted at markets in Lansdowne Road, Hatibagan, College Street, Rashbehari Avenue, Gariahat, Kidderpore and Jadubabu bazaar. A few suspects were detained, an EB official said.