Over 25K quintal paddy missing from Karnal mandi, 12 booked

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 30

After the unearthing of issuance of ‘fake gate passes’ at Gheer purchase centre in the district, another such case has come to the fore at Jundla grain market. As many as 12 employees were booked by the Sadar police, allegedly for issuing fictitious gate passes, as 25,852 quintal of procured paddy stock was not found on the spot.

The accused have been identified as Ajay Kumar, secretary of Market Committee Jundla, Kuldeep Singh, mandi supervisor, Anil Kumar, Dilshad, Vikas Maan and Naresh Chander, all auction recorders, Rohit, Asmit, Bhawar Singh, Mohit, Ajay and Amit, all computer operators. They have been booked under Sections 120-B, 409, 420, 467 of the IPC on the complaint of Ishwar Rana, District Marketing Enforcement Officer (DMEO), Karnal.

Following the directions of Vinay Singh, chief administrator of HSAMB, a team comprising of Nihal Singh, ZMEO, Hisar; Ishwar Rana, DMEO Karnal; Rajiv Chaudhary, DMEO Kurukshetra; and Mahabir Singh, DMEO Panipat; raided the Jundla mandi on October 22.

Later, a detailed inquiry report of 22 pages was submitted to the CA, which showed 25,852 quintal of procured paddy missing, indicating that fictitious gate passes were issued by the staff members concerned. The CA ordered investigation against the inspectors of the procurement agency, including the Food and Civil Supplies Department and HAFED, who were supposed to physically verify the stock before procurement, said Ishwar Rana, DMEO Karnal.

The report said that the auction recorders deliberately got fictitious gate passes issued without the actual arrival of the paddy, while the computer operators issued the gate passes. Mandi supervisor and other employees were supposed to check the procurement, but they did not do so, said the FIR, a copy of which is with The Tribune.

“The secretary of the market committee was the overall in charge of the mandi, but he failed to perform his duty by not controlling the issuance of fictitious gate passes without the actual arrival of paddy,” the DMEO added.

It was also the duty of the purchase agency officials to verify each and every stock record before procurement. Availability of less stock than what was purchased at site indicates that they could be involved in it, he alleged.

A police official said a case had been registered against 12 employees and investigation was underway.