CM Vijay Rupani orders CID probe into groundnut warehouse blaze

RAJKOT: Chief minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday ordered a probe by the state CID-crime into the massive fire which gutted huge quantity of groundnut kept at a warehouse in Gondal taluka of Rajkot.
An official statement issued by the government on Thursday said, "Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has decided to hand over the probe into the incident of fire at the groundnut warehouse to the state CID-Crime. Whoever found guilty in the probe will face stern action."

Ashish Bhatia, DGP, CID (crime), told TOI that they have formed a special investigation team to probe the case. "The SIT will be headed by Dipankar Trivedi, DIG of CID (crime) and would have DSP and inspector level officers to conduct thorough probe in the incident." he said.

Meanwhile, Rajkot collector on Thursday asked his officials to search oil mills near Gondal and Rajkot after complaint by Congress that groundnut was removed from the warehouse and supplied to oil millers before the fire.

The opposition Congress alleged that the groundnut was set on fire to cover up the corruption. Gujarat Pradesh Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "We demand an inquiry from a sitting high court judge. A week ago our leaders in Junagadh had asked district collector to take appropriate steps to prevent possible damage to the groundnut stock through fire or theft as they suspected that such things may happen to cover up corruption."

Nearly 7,000 tonne groundnut worth over Rs 31.5 crore was destroyed after a massive fire engulfed the warehouse in Umvada village of Gondal on Tuesday afternoon. The warehouse was rented by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) to store groundnut that it had procured from farmers at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 900 per 20kg.

It took fire-fighters from Gondal, Rajkot, Jetpur and Jasdan over 30 hours to douse the flames. After the fire, local residents told police that they had witnessed some suspicious movement of trucks with oil barrels on the backside of warehouse before it got engulfed in flames.