Khammam: Case against rice mill for CMR diversion, CPI seeks CBCID probe

Several rice mills in Khammam have defaulted on delivering huge quantities of custom milled rice (CMR) to the government and are found to have diverted the rice.

Khammam: Several rice mills in Khammam have defaulted on delivering huge quantities of custom milled rice (CMR) to the government and are found to have diverted the rice.

The issue came to light during ongoing inspections of rice mills jointly conducted by civil supplies officials along with vigilance and enforcement officials at different rice mills.

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According to officials there are 66 rice mills in the district. The civil supplies department handed over 1, 02, 688 lakh metric tonnes of paddy to the rice mills for 2022-23 rabi season but only 72, 848 metric tonnes was milled so far and rice was supposed to be supplied to FCI warehouses by September 30, but it is not done yet.

The officials who conducted inspections at SAR Rice Products at Lalapuram of Konijerla mandal in the district found that nearly 25, 000 metric tonnes to grain related to 2022-23 rabi and 2023-24 kharif seasons was missing.

The raids have been conducted by civil supplies district manager G Srilatha, DSO Chandan Kumar, vigilance and enforcement task force officials from Hyderabad, Kamal Pasha, R Pullaiah Swamy and others.

The officials informed that a police complaint at Konijerla police station has been lodged against SAR Rice Products management besides issuing a notice to pay Rs 81.60 crore towards the value of milled rice, interest and penalty. Police registered a cheating case against the management based on the complaint.

Sri Satyanarayana Silky and Sortex Rice Mill, RV Laxmi Rice Mill, Sri Balaji Rice and Flour Mill, Vasavi Dal and Rice Mill have also fully defaulted on delivering the milled rice while some mills have milled a small portion of paddy supplied to them, officials said.

Three ministers in the district Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Tummala Nageswara Rao and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka in separate statements have directed the officials to carry out a thorough investigation into the CMR diversion in Khammam district.

Meanwhile, CPI district secretary Potu Prasad on Thursday demanded a CBCID inquiry into the CMR rice scam and punish the culprits severely. He alleged that the officials and millers colluded in looting Rs 400 crore of public money in CMR diversion.