Three held in paddy procurement scam after years-long investigation

In a significant breakthrough in the multi-crore paddy procurement scam, Fatehabad Police on Friday arrested three accused in connection with fraudulent crop registrations on the state’s “Meri Fasal Mera Byora” portal during the 2020 kharif season.

The arrested individuals — Bhupinder Singh of Burj village, Balihar Singh from Ratia, and Kewal Singh from Nanheri village in Fatehabad district —were nabbed by the police’s Economic Cell after a three-year investigation. They will be produced in court shortly.

Inspector Sandeep, incharge of the Economic Cell, said the trio fraudulently used the names, Aadhaar numbers, and bank accounts of individuals who were not landowners to register bogus paddy crops. “They registered land in the names of unsuspecting people and sold paddy to government procurement agencies at MSP. During verification, many of the plots were found to have kinnow orchards, other crops, or no cultivation at all,” he said.

The accused allegedly collaborated with insiders in government departments. Officials and employees from the Food and Supplies Department, Market Committees in Ratia and Dharsul Kalan, and the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation are under investigation for their suspected roles.

The fraud came to light after several real landowners, including Devi Lal (Abubshahar, Sirsa), Mahavir (Bhodia Khera, Fatehabad), Pyara Singh (Sirsa), and Sheela (Jind), discovered that their land had been illegally used for registering paddy crops. They lodged complaints with the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad, which initiated a detailed probe.

As per police sources, the scam was not limited to fake crop entries. “The accused also bought cheaper paddy from neighbouring states and passed it off as local produce. They sold it at MSP in Haryana, pocketing huge profits and causing substantial losses to the state exchequer,” the inspector said.

The FIR, registered in 2022 based on a complaint by Squad Officer Rajesh Kumar, named 26 people including rice mill owners and private company operators. Charges were framed under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document), 409 (criminal breach of trust), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Inspector Sandeep confirmed that further arrests are likely. “We are closely scrutinising the involvement of officials suspected of aiding or turning a blind eye to the scam,” he added.