After two years of evading arrest, Sambhajinagar rural police finally nabs main accused in Rs 10.1-crore rice fraud from Telangana

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Rural police have arrested the prime accused in a Rs 10.11-crore rice fraud involving the Food Corporation of India (FCI), nearly two years after the FIR was registered in July 2024.

Superintendent of police Vinay Kumar Rathod said the accused, Jinna Venkat Ramana Reddy of Venampalli in Telangana's Peddapalli district, was the deputy sarpanch of his village. "He had set up CCTV cameras across multiple village roads and reportedly monitored them from his home and the gram panchayat office to track the movement of outsiders and avoid being caught," the officer said.

Rathod said Reddy was finally traced and detained in his native village by the economic offences wing after months of gathering manual and technical intelligence on his movements.

Police said the FIR was registered at the Karmad police station on July 17, 2024, under various IPC sections including 420, 406, 409, 464, 465, 468, 471, 34, and 120 (B) after a complaint was filed by Ashok Dadasaheb Taware, an employee of a distillery firm.

According to additional SP Annapurna Singh, the distillery had signed an agreement with the FCI divisional office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for the supply of 55,908 tonnes of rice for ethanol production. Based on the instructions of then FCI manager, the firm had deposited Rs 112.99 crore into the FCI account.

Investigation, however, revealed that the accused, allegedly in collusion with the then FCI manager and others, used forged documents to falsely show the supply of 5,004 tonnes of rice, even though no such consignment had been delivered. Through this manipulation, the firm was cheated of more than Rs 10.1 crore.

Sub-divisional police officer Pooja Nagre said Reddy had been absconding since the FIR was filed. "Each time the police tried to locate him, he would switch off his cellphone and move between cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram to evade arrest," Nagre said.

Acting on specific intel about his visit to the Venampalli gram panchayat office on March 8, a police team travelled in a private vehicle, halted nearly 25km from the village, and then entered the area in disguise using a hired vehicle. Reddy was taken into custody soon after.

Following arrest formalities at the Srirampur police station in Telangana, he was produced in a Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar court, which remanded him to police custody till March 14. The case is now being further investigated by sub-inspector Ram Hattarge.