The Civil Supplies-CID has seized 34.7 tonnes of subsidised rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS) and arrested four people for trying to smuggle it to Karnataka. The seizure was made on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway near the Thiruvalam EB Junction in Vellore district.
The PDS rice was smuggled in a lorry. An SUV that was accompanying the vehicle was also seized. The police identified the suspects as ‘Gingee’ Shanmugam 52, Mohan, 45, the car driver, and Shankar, 45, and Harikrishnan, 46, the owner and cleaner of the lorry respectively.
The investigation revealed that the suspects collected the rice from people in Madurantakam, Cheyyur, and the suburban areas of Chennai. They hoarded it in an abandoned rice mill owned by Babu alias Rajamanickam near Cheyyur in Chengalpattu district, and tried to smuggle it to Bangarupet in Karnataka, the Civil Supplies-CID said.
‘Gingee’ Shanmugam, the mastermind of the operation, has a previous criminal case for rice smuggling against him. The Civil Supplies-CID registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act. Investigations are under way to arrest other individuals involved in the smuggling operation.
