Telangana: Massive illegal PDS rice racket busted in Telangana
Hyderabad: A major illegal network involved in civil supply operations using logos and labels of Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation was busted.Enforcement Task Forces (ETFs) of the corporation and police in a joint operation raided a warehouse at Pasha Melaram near Patancheru in Sangareddy, unearthing a massive underground operation.The network was engaged in sending recycled rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS) to Food Corporation of India (FCI) and State Warehousing Corporation warehouses as fresh custom milled rice from various mills by generating fake e-way bills.
About 750 metric tonnes of PDS rice illegally stored and transported in seven trucks was seized during the raid.It was revealed that the network was cleaning PDS rice collected from various sources, filling it in new sacks and supplying it back to the PDS system. Sacks bearing the logo and labels of Telangana Civil Supplies Corporation were used in the operation.The Vigilance and Enforcement wing of the Civil Supplies Corporation has registered a case against the godown owner in connection with the seizure, and efforts are on to trace the persons behind the action. Cases have also been registered against the drivers of the trucks involved.
In a series of enforcement actions, the Civil Supplies Vigilance and Enforcement teams seized 28,610 quintals of PDS rice along with 148 vehicles used for transportation. Additionally, 767 quintals of PDS rice being transported in four trucks was intercepted and seized by the Enforcement Task Force team at Kaleshwaram before it could cross the interstate border with Maharashtra.The action highlights the ongoing efforts to combat illegal activities in the civil supplies sector and ensure the integrity of the Public Distribution System in Telangana.
