Four held for smuggling Rs five lakh worth Public Distribution Scheme rice to Maharashtra

PEDDAPALLI: The Ramagundam task force police seized about 350 quintals of Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) rice worth Rs 5 lakh at Peddapalli on Monday and arrested four people for smuggling it into Maharashtra.

Commissioner of Police (CP) V Satyanarayana said the rice, collected from several villages and stores at Ryakaldevpalli in Julapalli mandal, was loaded into a truck (GJ-11-VV-4111) and was being transported to Veeruru area rice mills in Maharashtra. Acting on a tipoff, the police intercepted the truck at Peddakalvala in Peddapalli and seized the vehicle along with a two-wheeler, the CP said.

The Peddapalli police registered a case and arrested Motam Guruvaiah and Varanasi Ramesh of Devunipalli in Sultanabad mandal; Shyamala Rayya, the truck driver; and Bheema Bhai, the cleaner who is from Gujarat.

Investigation revealed that traders were purchasing PDS rice from beneficiaries at Rs 16 and selling it in Maharashtra for Rs 25 per kg.  Every day, rice worth nearly Rs 1 crore was being smuggled into Maharashtra. Traders were buying a quintal of rice for Rs 1,000 and selling it for Rs 2,500 per quintal, the CP said.