The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has constituted a special team to examine the quality and source of rice and paddy stocked inside two mills where massive shortages of paddy and rice under the Custom Milled Rice (CMR) scheme were detected during raids recently.
As per officials, a shortage of nearly 10,000 quintals was found at Balaji mill, Taraori, while around 26,000 quintals were allegedly missing from Vishavkarma mill. The irregularities came to light during a surprise inspection by the department team led by the District Food Supplies Controller (DFSC) recently.
Sources in the department said officials suspect that the stock lying in the mills may have been procured from states such as Bihar or Uttar Pradesh at cheaper rates and could have been intended to be adjusted against the CMR meant for the FCI.
“To verify the source and quality of the rice in both mills, a technical team has been constituted to collect samples,” said Mukesh Kumar, DFSC.
As per information, the department has allotted around 40,000 quintals of paddy to each mill. After finding shortage of paddy and rice, the department registered an FIR against owners of the mills and certain department officials.
Accused Ramphal has been arrested and sent to judicial custody after a four-day remand. The police are tracing other accused involved in the case.
