TRICHY
: Three people were arrested in Mannachanallur on Monday for hoarding 5,000kg of rice meant for public distribution system (PDS) in a rice mill.
The accused have been identified as owner of JK Flour mill at Bhuvaneswari Nagar, J Thyagarajan, 58, and his workers R Karthik, 28, and G Rengaraj, 58.
Acting on a tip-off, a special police team led by sub-inspector D Nagaraj searched the premises of the flour mill and found the PDS rice hoarded in 85 bags. The 5,000kg of rice was valued at Rs28,250.
Preliminary inquiry with Thyagarajan and his staff brought to light that the trio had indulged collected the PDS rice from villages around Mannachanallur. Nagaraj said that Thyagarajan employed the two men to visit the villages and buy the PDS rice from people who don’t use it. The two would bring the rice to the flour mill where it is broken into granules and sold for poultry feed.
“They buy each kg of rice for Rs 5 and sell it for poultry feed at Rs 20 to Rs 25 per kg,” Nagaraj told TOI on Tuesday.
Police also inquired if the trio had links with staff of the ration shops to collect the contact numbers of the cardholders not using the rice. Nagaraj said that they suspect the role of some staff as they only know the customer details.
The accused were remanded in the Thuraiyur sub-jail on Tuesday.
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