Five people were arrested in Bengal as salt, which normally sells for Rs 16 a kg, sold at Rs 150 a kg in some places.
Rumours about a shortage of salt that had sparked panic buying of the essential commodity in Bihar over the last three days spread to north Bengal and the north eastern states this morning. Bihar and Odisha rubbished the rumours and claimed all was well. 18 people were arrested in Bihar and 5 in Bengal as salt, which normally sells for Rs 16 a kg, sold at Rs 150 a kg in some places.
The police went around with mikes in markets in the north Bengal districts of Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and parts of Darjeeling, saying there was no shortage of salt, but people still queued at shops.
A customer at a market in Malda said, "Suddenly, people were standing in line to buy salt. I also queued up and bought a packet at normal price. But people were saying salt will sell at Rs 100 to 150 a kilo from tomorrow."
In Guwahati, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi held a press conference where he issued a warning to traders against hoarding. Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram, too, hit the panic button briefly.
Rumours about the shortage apparently surfaced in Odisha and Bihar around three days ago. Bihar is now claiming the situation is under control, however, even on Thursday, salt sold at over Rs 100 a kilo in Patna. Police raided markets and arrested 18 people. A shopkeeper in Samastipur said, "The buzz yesterday was Rs 100 for a kilo of salt. So I also sold at Rs 30 to 40 a kilo. But in the market they were selling at Rs 100 to 130."
In Patna, food secretary Shishir Sharma said there was no panic buying in the state today but admitted rumours of shortage had created a problem. "Rumours are the most potent weapon and lead to artificial demand and ultimately price rise," he said. "There is an artificial scarcity because of this."
Some political parties in Bihar are reportedly blaming political rivals for the rumour mongering but investigations are yet to confirm this.