Nizamabad: Several rice millers of Nizamabad district accused of defaulting on supplying custom milling rice (CMR) to the state government have gone absconding. CID police, who are investigating, are searching for the millers.
They have taken into custody the district civil supplies officer B. Srikanth for questioning. Telangana government procures paddy from farmers to ensure minimum support price to them and hands over the procured rice to millers for processing it into CMR. The millers are paid milling charges for the purpose as well as to supply the processed rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). However, some millers are accused of minting money by diverted government-supplied paddy to the open market, instead of milling the paddy and delivering the custom milling rice to the FCI.
Several millers have also been charged with supplying common variety rice to the FCI, instead of Grade A rice, while selling the fine-quality rice in the open market and pocketing the money.
Incidentally, the state government pays farmers a bonus of ₹500 for supplying fine-quality paddy to the millers for turning it into CMR. Around 16 rice millers in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Mulugu districts are accused of diverting fine-quality rice to the open market and supplying common variety rice to the FCI. Investigations by the CID have revealed irregularities involving paddy worth around ₹84 crore.
The CID has named Laxmi Ganapathi Industries promoter and BJP leader V. Mohan Reddy, V. Janardhan Reddy, and Ashish Kumar of Vidya Agro Industries in Bodhan as among those who are allegedly absconding over the past few days. CID officials are planning to lodge a complaint with senior FCI officials in New Delhi in this regard. In the interim, district civil supplies officer Srikanth managed to get bail. However, CID has taken him into custody on a prisoner transit (PT) warrant for two days of questioning.
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