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2 police officers arrest in bribe case unearths PDS rice smuggling in Telangana

Hyderabad: More skeletons are likely to stumble out of the closet in the smuggling of rice meant for Public Distribution System (PDS) following the arrest of Thorrur Inspector Karri Jagadish and Thirumalagiri Sub-Inspector (SI) V Suresh along with the police constable Nagaraju by Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with seperate bribe cases booked against them recently.

The ACB’s crackdown came to light the corrupt practices of the police personnel and how they are accepting bribes from those indulging in PDS rice smuggling for not arresting them. Though the ACB is primarily focusing on the bribe cases booked against the arrested persons, the senior officials opined that a detailed probe by the Civil Supplies department, Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) wing and the State police would unearth the nexus behind smuggling of PDS rice to millers and later to neighboring States especially Maharashtra.

Ironically, the complainants, who were involved in the PDS rice scam, gave a tip-off to the ACB about the bribe demanded by the Inspector and SI and ensured their arrest in the two cases reported in Mahbubabad and Suryapet districts.

The two arrested police officers accepted bribe not to arrest the complainants in connection with the cases registered against them and to issue a 35 BNSS notice to them.

Of the total Rs.4 lakh, the Inspector accepted Rs.2 lakh from the complainant, while SI Suresh and constable Nagaraju accepted Rs.1.40 lakh bribe out of Rs.3 lakh demanded by them.

The ACB officials associated with the investigation told Deccan Chronicle that the smugglers developed a network of PDS rice collection agents. They would then dump the rice in a lorry and smuggle it to the neighbouring States at high price.

In another modus operandi, the smugglers after purchasing PDS rice for Rs.12 per kg from the beneficiaries send it to millers known to them. After polishing it at the rice mills, the smugglers were found to be selling the same to the government for Rs.32 per kg in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Nearly 400 kgs of PDS rice was seized in the two cases. Officials said that there was a strong nexus between the smugglers and millers in the scam.


( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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