The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the illegal transportation and smuggling of ration rice in the state.
–Galla S Kiran Kumar, Bureau ChiefThe CID, headed by IG Vineet Brijlal,
handed over 13 cases registered in Kakinada area.
Amaravati: The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the illegal transportation and smuggling of ration rice in the state. CID IG Vineet Brijlal has been appointed as the head of the SIT.
The CID has provided a place for SP B. Umamaheshwar and four other DSPs in this team. During the YSRCP regime, smuggling of ration rice became an organized mafia in the state. Thousands of tons of ration rice were mainly transported abroad from Kakinada Port. The coalition government took strict action immediately after its formation. 13 cases were registered in the Karapa, Koringa, Port and Indrapalem police stations in Kakinada district in June and July. The government has now handed over the responsibility of investigating these to the SIT. To this end, Chief Secretary Nirab Kumar Prasad issued orders on Friday.
The main goal is to uncover the perpetrators.
The SIT will focus mainly on uncovering the sources of organized rice smuggling, irregularities, identifying the main masterminds and perpetrators, and taking legal action against them. The government has given the SIT the power to investigate, question witnesses, seize documents, conduct inspections, and arrest the accused. It has been allowed to obtain information from any government department as part of the investigation. A report should be submitted to the state government every 15 days on the progress of the investigation in these cases. DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and Vigilance and Enforcement DG Harish Kumar Gupta have submitted separate reports to the government on the smuggling of ration rice and the need for a special investigation into this.
Mafia with the support of leaders
The Vigilance and Enforcement Department has found in its investigation that smuggling of ration rice from the state to foreign countries is going on in an organized manner. “Those with strong connections with millers, exporters and politicians are behind this smuggling. They are polishing and changing the appearance of ration rice. They are rebranding it by pasting false labels. They are making it look like premium export quality rice. They are selling it at the highest prices in the international market. They are mainly exporting it to African countries as there is high demand. They are creating false documents saying that they are exporting rice and millet. All the exporters and custom house agents are running this organized mafia in collusion,” the Vigilance reported.
To prevent improper inspections…
“The inspection system is not very strong in other key export hubs including Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Chennai ports. Taking this into account, the ration rice mafia is operating. Large quantities of ration rice are being transported abroad. The roots of this scam are spread to many places,” the vigilance department said in its report. Taking this into consideration, the government has constituted an SIT.
This is the background to the formation of the SIT: With the appointment of the SIT, the hearts of the illegals who earned thousands of crores of rupees by moving PDS stocks abroad through the Kakinada port are trembling. After the coalition government came to power in the state, Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar conducted surprise inspections in Kakinada district on June 28 and 29. It is known that Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan also inspected and exposed the matter. A total of 51,427.11 tons of rice were seized from 13 godowns. After testing of suspected samples, it was found that 26,488.32 tons of the total stocks contained poor people’s rice (PDS kernels). The illegal transportation of poor people’s rice continued unabated due to the entrenched rice mafia and the management of some officials affiliated with the YSRCP. Even though check posts were set up at Anchorage Port, they subverted the system and committed irregularities. Minister Nadendla announced that 41A notices would be issued against 13 exporters as part of criminal action, but no steps were taken in that direction. Some police officers tried to protect the illegals by maintaining secrecy and not disclosing their details. As the ration mafia is moving its pawns based on Kakinada Port at the level of ruling the systems, solving this problem has become a challenge for the government. This has made the formation of an SIT inevitable.
