Punjab Vigilance Bureau blows lid off Rs 1.55 cr ‘rice scam’, 3 held

Chandigarh, June 21

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has unearthed a ‘scam’ amounting to Rs 1.55 crore by raiding a warehouse and impounded two trucks laden with 1,138 bags of rice in Bathinda. The rice meant for the poor was being sent to Fatehabad illegally. The VB has arrested Gopal Goyal, owner Shiv Shakti Rice Mill, Garhshankar, Hoshiarpur district, along with two truck drivers Jagpal Singh and Sukhwinder Singh.

The VB said a case against the owner of Jai Janeder Firm Contractor Harish Dalal, owner of Shiv Shakti Rice Mill Gopal Goyal, owner of Anjani Rice Mill, Kuttiwal Kalan, Maur Mandi, Bathinda, and the truck drivers have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Under the scheme, about 70,000 metric tonnes of rice was being distributed by the National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India in Bathinda, Bhucho, Maur, Rampura Phul and Budhlada among poor families, costing about Rs 130 crore. About 1,000 metric tonnes of rice was to be distributed at a cost of Rs 18.50 per kg.

The tender for supplying the rice to the beneficiaries at a rate of Rs 29 per kg in Bathinda district was awarded to Jai Janedar firm. The VB got information that an attempt was being made to steal the rice worth Rs 3.40 crore and send it to Fatehabad.