Lakhs of kgs of PDS grain stolen

RAJKOT: Lakhs of kilograms of wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene meant for poor people has been pilfered in last seven months by the racketeers who have been arrested.
According to the food and civil supplies department officials, 1.27 lakh kg wheat, 61,139 kg rice, 7,395 kg sugar and 33,178 kg kerosene is estimated to pilfered and sold in the black market by the accused.
Investigating officer LK Jethwa of Jafrabad police station said, “They had purchased a bogus software from a person in Rajasthan. Using this software, they bypassed the Aadhar verification and biometric thumb impression of the beneficiaries. We expect more people to be arrested in this scam.”
Explaining their modus operandi, police said the accused issued coupons based on Aadhaar verification and accordingly distributed the food grains during the month. However, they generated fake offline bills in the name of those beneficiaries and ration card holders who didn’t turn up to get their quota of subsidized grains. They did this by rigging the system between 1st to 5th of next month. They pilfered the food grains based on this fake bills. These offline transaction didn’t show in online system at the district level.