"pds-rice"

The Singareni MEMU express operated daily between Bhadrachalam Road and Balharshah of Maharashtra has apparently become a boon for public distribution system (PDS) rice smugglers.

The worth of the seized PDS rice is estimated to be Rs 7,000.

They were identified as Kamalapathi Srinivas, a rice trader from Andhra Pradesh and Makavan Giridhar Bai, who were taking the rice from Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka. 

In the first incident, a truck carrying 35 tonnes of PDS rice was intercepted at Shadnagar and one person identified as Pradeep was arrested.

The officials said that Syed Arif and Isaq Ahmed of Kaghaznagar town were booked for allegedly diverting the rice grains.

The six confessed to committing the offence to make a fast buck.

Acting on information, the police raided different premises at Shadnagar, Shamshabad, Rajendranagar and Pahadishareef.

On Monday, the Sangareddy police uncovered a PDS recycling operation, seizing a staggering 500 tonnes of PDS rice from a rice mill situated in the Pashamylaram Industrial Area, within the jurisdiction of the BDL Bhanur police station.

A case under Section 6A of The Essential Commodities Act was booked against the shop and the shop was handed over to Ramanujavarapu fair price shop dealer as additional responsibility.

Acting on a tip off, the SOT police caught one person Megavath Naveen (30) and seized the PDS rice bags.

Ganja hot spots across the district have to be identified and register cases against ganja smugglers as well as users, he said.

The man Akula Mahipal was purchasing the PDS rice at a low price from beneficiaries in the villages and selling the same for profit.

Attacks, and murders are on the rise as gangs vie for supremacy in the multi-crore business

The police said efforts were on to track who was behind the business. The seized rice was handed over to the Sadasivapet police.

On inspection, the police found 75 quintals of PDS rice in the vehicle.

Revenue authorities seized 262 quintals of rice meant for Public Distribution System (PDS) stored in a hut in Kagaznagar town

Inspector D Sudhakar said that the arrested were Abbas Khan, Faruq Khan, Md Nayeem and Khaza Mohiuddin

Task Force police have apprehended two persons for smuggling PDS rice worth Rs 3.20 lakh from them at Elkathurthy village

The police said that the accused had purchased PDS rice from surrounding areas and were selling at higher price for illegal benefits.

A senior assistant of the Revenue department was booked on charges of being involved in the misuse of 8,400 quintals of PDS rice.