Andhra: Pawan Kalyan raids ship at Kakinada port, foils bid to smuggle PDS rice to West Africa

Kakinada: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan thwarted the smuggling of 640 metric tonnes of PDS rice when he raided a West-Africa-bound cargo ship at Kakinada Port.

The actor-turned-politician ordered a seizure of the ship and asked the officials not to allow it to leave the port.

Kalyan made a surprise visit to Kakinada Port on Friday to check the illegal export of rice.

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.

Port officials did not cooperate with Pawan Kalyan and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Nadendla Manohar when they wanted to get into the ship and verify the documents and the rice being loaded.

Later, Kalyan passed the orders to seize the ship for smuggling the rice. “If there is any pressure from the central government, we will address it,” he said.

What happened?

During an inspection, it was found that the cargo ship contained at least 38,000 MT of rice, including 640 MT of rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The 640 MT of PDS rice was earlier seized by the Civil Supplies Department. However, it was allowed to be exported to West Africa upon a bank guarantee secured by the exporter.

Rice exported to African countries:

Addressing the media after the inspection, Pawan Kalyan said, "The state government will respond to any query by the Centre on the PDS rice seizure. The Centre is also a stakeholder in implementing the Public Distribution System. I have asked to submit a detailed report about the ship, the rice, and the main person behind it," said Pawan Kalyan.

“A network of 16 rice exporters have created a green channel from all the corners of the state to transport PDS rice to the Kakinada-based port. Later it is exported to African countries. In African countries. The PDS rice exported from Kakinada is being sold at ₹73 per kg. In Andhra Pradesh, the state government supplies the rice free of cost with the government bearing ₹43 per kilogram, ” he explained.

He said that a decision would be taken in the cabinet on whether to investigate the smuggling of PDS rice from the CID, or any other investigative agency. He said that he will speak to CM Chandrababu Naidu,

Serious threat to national security:

"This is a serious threat to national security due to negligence of authorities. We will smash the entire network. If the authorities fail to check illegal traffic in the coastal area, it will jeopardize the security of the country", he said.

Deputy CM said that he would take the notice of the center and investigating agencies on the smuggling activities going on from Kakinada port.

"This smuggling does not stop with just rice. They can also smuggle drugs and explosives if the authorities continue to ignore them. Who will be responsible? Who knows how much marijuana (ganja) is imported or exported?" Pawan Kalyan asked.