Hyderabad, Nov. 4 -- The Agriculture department has written to the state DGP of the Cyber Crime Wing over unauthorised SMS messages sent to over two lakh farmers over the Rythu Bharosa Scheme, seeking an investigation.

The November 4 letter by the Director of the department, B Gopi, said that 2,73,128 farmers received these messages, but they were neither generated nor authorised by the agriculture department.

However, the letter does not elaborate on the contents of the messages.

It said it has been using the CDAC SMS service portal for sending official SMS communications to farmers but did not send said messages.

It said, "There is a possibility of unauthorised access, misuse of the department's name, or misuse of SMS communication ...