4 booked for stealing over 23,000 wheat bags
FARIDKOT: Police on Monday booked four employees of district warehousing corporation for allegedly siphoning off more than 23,000 wheat bags worth over ₹2 crore following a departmental inquiry into the recent fire incident at its godown that led to the discovery of the scam.
The accused have been identified as in-charge of the godown inspector Ranjit Singh, security guards Amarjit Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Tahir- all residents of Muktsar district.
The probe found that Ranjit along with three security guards siphoned off more than 23,000 wheat bags and put the wheat stock on fire to hide their theft. With each bag carrying 50 kg wheat, more than 11,500 quintals of food grain have been stolen.
The Faridkot city police booked the four employees under sections 420, 409 and 436 of the Indian Penal Code after the district manager Mandeep Kaur Brar wrote to the district police to register an FIR against them.
As per record, there were 63,000 wheat bags and 83 metric tonnes of paddy stored in the warehousing corporation godown on Ferozepur road in Faridkot district. The investigation into the May 4 fire incident at the godown found that more than 23,000 wheat bags were missing from the godown, which officials had claimed to be gutted in the fire.
Following the fire, the department team visited Faridkot to access the loss. But during their visit, the team found the incident suspicious and a departmental inquiry was ordered to find out the reason behind it.
“The employees claimed that the fire broke out due to a short circuit but it has been found that there was no short circuit and the fire was put on by the employees intentionally for their benefit,” the probe report said.