AP forms team to probe illegal PDS rice found on West-Africa bound cargo ship at Kakinada Port

Kakinada: A five-member team consisting of officials from the Customs, Anchorage Port, Police, Revenue and Civil Supplies has been formed to investigate the alleged illegal PDS rice found in the West-Africa bound cargo ship Stella L Panama at Kakinada Port.

Following the instructions by deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, the cargo ship anchored at Kakinada port has been seized with 38,000 MTs of rice.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Kakinada collector S Shan Mohan informed that the team will be investigating the origins of the rice and identify the exporters involved.

“We will investigate how the exporters got the rice and how much of the stock is PDS rice. Each load of rice will be checked by the team, to verify if the rice for the beneficiaries is being diverted for smuggling,” said the collector.

Number to report diversion of PDS rice

The collector has released a number (7993332244) using which people can report on any illegal diversion of PDS rice. “Any information on PDS rice diversions especially in Kakinada port can be informed so that we can immediately act with the available taskforce teams,” the collector said.

Is illegal rice meant for PDS being smuggled from Kakinada?

This move comes a day after Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan met with Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu to discuss the alleged Public Distribution System (PDS) rice smuggling at Kakinada Port. During his discussion with Naidu, he appealed to take tough decisions to curb the ration mafia.

Recently, Pawan Kalyan, accompanied by Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Nadendla Manohar, inspected the Kakinada Deep Seaport and the government-owned Anchorage Port in the wake of the alleged illegal export of rice supplied through the PDS.

During the inspection, the West-Africa-bound cargo ship `Stella L Panama’ was found loaded with 38,000 metric tonnes of rice including 640 MT meant for PDS. Pawan Kalyan then ordered a seizure of the ship and asked the officials not to allow it to leave the port.

The state government alleged that illegal rice exports worth Rs 48,537 crore, amounting to over 1.3 crore MT, were routed through Kakinada Port under the erstwhile YSRCP regime.