343 quintals of PDS rice seized in Barpeta, one arrested

SMUGGLERS' LINK WITH B'DESH

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State police sniffed that there is something fishy going on with the state PDS rice – it is going to Bangladesh via Meghalaya and Tripura.

Basistha police intercepted two Meghalaya-bound rice-laden trucks (AS01NC2031 and NL02L3417) on August 14, 2021. The two trucks were from Barpeta. The police could arrest only one of the drivers, and the rest fled the scene.

The arrested driver told the police that the rice consignment was bound for Meghalaya. He, however, did not have any documents to support his statement.

Gorchuk police also intercepted a Meghalaya-bound rice-laden truck (AS01GC0168) coming from Palhaji in the Barpeta last night. The arrested driver said that the destination of the rice was Meghalaya. As usual, he had no document to back his statement.

Basistha Police summoned the two owners of the intercepted trucks. However, they have not yet turned up. They hail from Barpeta.

The rice sacs have no labels on them. Police sources said that a racket is repackaging PDS rice and sending it to Meghalaya from where it goes to Bangladesh via Agartala.

The police have been investigating this. Basistha Police have sent samples of the seized rice to FCI through the Food and Civil Supplies Department. The report from the FCI is yet to come.

In earlier such cases, FCI said that it had no technique to identify rice samples.

A correspondent from Barpeta adds: The Barpeta district administration seized 343 quintals of PDS rice along with a pick-up van from a godown owned by Shahjahan Ali located at Kahibari in Barpeta district today. ADC Nabajit Pathak led the team that also has officials from the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

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