15,000 wheat bags missing from Ambala godown

Suman Bhatnagar

Ambala, November 26

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by SDM Shakti Singh has said nearly 15,000 bags of wheat went missing from an open godown in Manakapur village near Ambala City.

Government agencies had procured the bags last year.

On November 2, Cooperation Minister Vikram Thekedar had raided Hafed godowns in Ambala City and noticed irregularities. He had directed the administration to tally the figure of bags of wheat in the godown with the records.

An SIT was constituted and, as per its investigation, nearly 15,000 bags of wheat were missing from the Manakpur godown. In some of the bags, straw and dust was filled in place of wheat and some of the bags weighed only 20 kg. A bag contains 50 kg of wheat.

Nearly 2.3 lakh bags stored in an open rented field were not covered in a proper manner.

In another open godown of Hafed in Mokha Majra village, around 1 lakh bags of wheat were found in a rotting condition. Sources said wheat would be sold as cattle feed at a low price.

The worth of missing and rotten bags at the two godowns is around Rs 1.5 crore, the SIT said.

Hafed reportedly has two covered godowns in the city. Nearly 6 lakh bags of wheat are stored in the open and covered with plastic sheets.

The SDM said the investigation was almost complete and the report would be sent to the government by next week.

Mahavir Singh, Financial Commissioner, Urban Local Bodies, had visited the godowns a few days ago.

Hooda seeks CBI probe into paddy procurement ‘scam’

Panipat: Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (in pic) today accused the state government of procuring paddy at throwaway prices and alleged a procurement scam. He demanded a CBI inquiry or a probe by a retired judge. Interacting with mediapersons at the PWD rest house here, Hooda accused the state government of being insensitive towards farmers. It was the government policy, due to which farmers were forced to sell their paddy at throwaway prices, he said. Demanding a CBI inquiry or probe from a retired judge in the procurement of paddy and distribution of compensation, he said he along with his party MLAs would approach the Governor on November 27. He accused the INLD of being hand in gloves with the government and not playing the role of the opposition. “The Congress will play the real opposition in the upcoming monsoon session and raise people’s issues,” said Hooda. —TNS

Straw, dust filled in some bags

An SIT was constituted and, as per its investigation, nearly 15,000 bags of wheat were missing from the Manakpur godown. In some of the bags, straw and dust was filled in place of wheat and some of the bags weighed only 20 kg. A bag contains 50 kg of wheat.