Hyderabad: Rachakonda police officials here arrested three persons for the illegal possession of Public Distribution System (RDS) rice, which is supplied to the underprivileged classes by the state government. The cops also seized 25 tons of PDS rice and seized two lorries that were involved in the crime.
The PDS scam was busted by officials from the Hayathnagar police station and members of the Rachakonda police’s SOT team. They arrested the three accused persons while they were transporting the PDS rice to different areas. The accused have been identified as N. Maipal Reddy, K. Sadashiva and K. Praveen Kumar.
According to the police, another accused Aitha Krishna, an owner-cum-lorry driver, began purchasing PDS rice from state beneficiaries for Rs. 9 from areas like Malakpet, LB Nagar, Vanasthalipuram etc. and began selling the same to poultry farm owners at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Krishna would sell the rice in other areas of AP as well, for anything between Rs.20 to Rs. 25. Further, he was also selling the same to unsuspecting people by getting the PDS rice reprocessed at rice mills. He was also previously arrested in a case registered against him by the Adibatla police for a similar offence. However, he did not mend his ways and was continuing the illegal activity.
Likewise, recently managed to collect nearly 25 tons of PDS rice and loaded the same in two lorries and two carrier autos. Though he planned on selling the PDS rice, officials of the Rachakonda and Hayathnagar police got wind of it and arrested the three accused who were involved in transporting it. Aitha Krishna managed to escape.
The accused are being produced in the court. The arrests were made under the supervision of Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat, G.Sudheer Babu, Addl. Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, and other officials.