1,320 tonnes of PDS rice unloaded from Stella L Ship

Earlier on November 29, authorities found 640 tonnes of PDS rice in the ship. However, the inspection carried out by the multi-disciplinary committee confirmed the presence of another 680 tonnes of rice meant for the poor.

While the Collector had inspected the ship on November 27 and found 640 tonnes of PDS rice, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan had visited the Kakinada anchorage port two days later on November 29, and ordered that the ship be seized.

“There was almost 4000 tonnes of white rice on the ship. We took 12 samples, and after testing and verifying them, we found that the ship had 1320 tonnes of PDS rice in total. The bags were from Satyam Balaji Rice Industries Pvt Ltd. We are tracking which mills they sourced the rice from, and which godowns they had stored it in,” the Collector said.

On November 29, Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan made a visit to Kakinada Port and expressed anger over the port authorities and the local MLA for failing to check the smuggling of PDS rice. He had visited the port along with Civil Supplies Minister and Jana Sena Party leader Nandendla Manohar.