Agra (Uttar Pradesh): Police have unearthed black marketing of rice meant for distribution to the weaker sections in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district and seized 27 tonnes of ration worth Rs 10 lakh.
A team led by the District Supply Officer raided a warehouse in Nagla Bari near Raibha village in Achhnera police station area on Tuesday evening and seized 27 tonnes of ration that was being loaded onto a trailer for being sent to Haryana.
A total of 559 sacks of rice and a vehicle were seized from the warehouse. Also, a case has been registered against the accused operators at Achhnera police station, police said.
District Supply Officer, Sanjeev Kumar, said an information was received about a warehouse on Laldas Road in Nagla Bari of Raibha Gram Panchayat under Achhnera police station. Its operators, Sumit Agarwal and Manish Agarwal, have been accused of buying ration from gram panchayats through people and hoarding it in the warehouse. Later, they loaded the stocks on trailers and sold those in Haryana, officials said.
"When the team reached the warehouse, sacks were being loaded onto a trailer. Around 20 people were engaged in loading the stocks. The team also found warehouse operator Manish Agarwal on the spot and on questioning, he ran away. The rice sacks that were found in the warehouse have been handed over to ration dealers," Kumar said.
Of the 559 sacks that were seized in the warehouse, 62 had been supplied by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the remaining 497 sacks contained rice that was bought from people in the villages, Kumar said. This means that 62 sacks were procured directly from ration dealers or FCI, he added.
Kumar said that the warehouse is owned by Bablu, a resident of Raibha but is operated by Sumit Agarwal, a resident of Kheragarh, and his brother-in-law Manish Agarwal. Both are engaged in a business involving ration operation.
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