Rice mill owner, 12 others arrested by Warangal police in Rs 2.1 crore paddy procurement fraud

Police arrested a rice mill owner, his family, and relatives for irregularities in paddy procurement during the rabi season under Warangal limits. The Rs 2.10 crore fraud involved fake farmer names and collusion with officials. Assets worth Rs 1.07 crore were seized

Hanamkonda: The police arrested the owner of a rice mill, his family members, and relatives for committing irregularities in paddy procurement during the rabi season at Shayampet and Katrapalli IKP centres under the Warangal Police Commissionerate limits.

Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, East Zone DCP Ankit Kumar said the owner of Sambasiva Mini Modern Rice Mill at Kamalapur, Bejjanki Srinivas, with the help of AEOs and in-charges of paddy procurement centres, committed irregularities using fake names of farmers, 12 family members, and relatives. The fraud amounted to Rs 2.10 crore for 9,100 quintals of paddy, which was falsely shown to have been produced in 314 acres of land. Shayampet and Task Force police jointly investigated the case based on a complaint by the civil supplies and vigilance officers.

---

In total, 13 persons, including the main accused, Bejjanki Srinivas (A1), his wife Shoba Rani, their three sons Punnam Chary, Shiva Kumar, and Chandu, along with their relatives and Katrapalli cluster AEO M Supriya, were arrested.

Police seized Rs 9.50 lakh in cash, a car worth Rs 8 lakh, and agricultural land documents worth Rs 32 lakh from them. An amount of Rs 54 lakh in the bank was also frozen. In all, assets worth Rs 1.07 crore were seized as part of the investigation. A mediator who facilitated illegal creation of fake entries in OPMS, Banda Lalitha (A2), private tab operator Vankdoth Charan Singh, in-charge of IKP Shayampet Balbhadra Hymavathi, in-charge of IKP Katrapalli Alle Anitha, a relative of Bejjanki Srinivas, lorry transport contractor Vadluri Rajender, Sudhati Rajeshwar Rao, and Shayampet AEO Bochu Archana were already arrested in the case.

A relative of Bejjanki Srinivas, Vadluri Sricharan, and Shayampet mandal agriculture officer Ganga Jamuna were absconding. Cases under Sections 61(2), 111, 318(4), 336(3), 338, 316(5), 314, and 217 read with 3(5) of the BNS along with Sections 66C, 66D, and 65 of the IT Act were registered against the accused at Shayampet police station, the DCP added.