Rice miller booked for ₹1.3crore paddy scam in Adampur

Police have booked the owner of an Adampur-based rice mill, his son and brother for duping the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP), a procurement agency of the food and supply department, of paddy worth ₹1.36 crore in 2015-16.

The accused are Gurdayal Singh, the owner of JS Kalra Rice Mill, his son Balraj Singh and brother Avtar Singh of Lutera Kalan in Adampur subdivision of the district on the complaint of PUNSUP managing director Amar Pal Singh.

A case under Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against them at the Patara police station.

As per information, PUNSUP had supplied 1.45 lakh paddy bags (54,000 quintal rice) to the mill in 2015-16 under the state’s milling policy. Of this, the mill had to supply 36,463 quintal (67% of the total) rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) after milling the paddy but they sent only

IT WAS FOUND IN A PROBE THAT THE MILL HAD NOT SENT 19,455 PADDY BAGS TO FCI

31,246 quintals. Jankar Raj, PUNSUP district manager, said an inquiry was ordered in February 2016 and it was found that the mill had not sent 19,455 paddy bags (7,295 quintal), causing ₹1.36 crore loss to the government.

He said the department sent two notices to the firm owner in 2017 but got no response.

A case was lodged with the food and supply department joint director-cum-arbitrator against the miller who was asked to present his case. He, however, repeatedly sought more time to pay for losses the department had suffered, a senior PUNSUP official said.

“After he failed to pay for the losses the department incurred, the authorities recommended legal action against the owner last month,” district manager of PUNSUP said. Investigating official Bhupinder Pal said the accused are absconding and they will conduct raids to nab them.